'Bajaj' driver found dead

'Bajaj' driver found dead

JAKARTA (JP): The driver of a bajaj (motorized three-wheeled
vehicle) was found dead on a sidewalk on Jl. Alu-Alu, Rawamangun,
in East Jakarta yesterday.

The victim, identified as Salimin, 22, was believed to have
died from five deep stab wounds.

"He must have been killed by Pulogadung hoodlums," Mukromin,
22, one of Salimin's friends, said.

Other bajaj drivers, who came to Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital's morgue to identify the body, agreed with Mukromin's
assumption.

Mukromin said thugs in the Pulogadung area usually treated
bajaj drivers very cruelly. They would lash out at anyone who
refused to give them money on demand, he said.

"They're too demanding," he said. "We can't run from them so
what else can we do?"

Salimin was apparently beaten before being stabbed five times,
he said.

Salimin, the father of a one-year-old girl, was a solemn and
very helpful man, Mukromin said. He shared a rented house in
Teluk Angsa, Bekasi, with other drivers from Indramayu, West
Java.

"He'd been driving since he was a single man," Mukromin said,
adding that Salimin came to Jakarta six years ago.

His body was found near the bajaj by a local resident, who
thought that Salimin was the victim of a traffic accident.

He reported the case to the Pulogadung Police subprecinct.
Police then rushed the body to hospital for a postmortem
examination. (04)