Armed robbery injures three

SURAKARTA, Central Java: Robbers injured three men and got away with Rp 219 million (about US$25,000) in a daylight heist against a cooperative in the Central Java town of Surakarta on Monday.

Security guard at the cooperative Heru Sutarjo was shot in the leg while his colleague, Agus Sarianto, and an employee, Witono, sustained stab wounds to their arms, said Surakarta Police deputy chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Endang Sunjaya.

He said the robbery took place in front of the office of the cooperative Koperasi Simpan Pinjam Jaya at around 5.45 p.m.

Witnesses counted four robbers, he said.

The robbers had apparently waited outside the office for the cooperative's employees. Five of them had withdrawn Rp 219 million from a branch office in Kartasura, some 12 kilometers west of Surakarta.

Endang said that Heru was shot first. When Agus and Witono tried to help him and retrieve the money, the robbers attacked them with swords. They escaped on two motorcycles.

This is the fourth armed robbery in Surakarta this month. -- JP