'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)