Bank customer robbed of Rp 110m

JAKARTA (JP): A private company employee was robbed yesterday by two men in his office parking lot on Jl. Cokroaminoto in Menteng, Central Jakarta after just having withdrawn Rp 110 million (US$46,808) from BBD Bank's Tanah Abang branch.

At least five employees of the company saw one of the two robbers pointing a gun at Sutarman while grabbing the black bag containing the money, which belonged to the office.

"None of them could help until the robbers escaped on a motorcycle," city police spokesman Maj. Nyoman Suriasta said yesterday.

Sutarman and a colleague, Yose, were about to get out of his Kijang van when the robbers intercepted them, Nyoman said. They work for PT Chandra Kanta Sentosa, a company which supplies workers for overseas jobs.

"One of the suspects pointed a gun at the victim, grabbed the money and escaped with the other suspect, who was waiting on a motorcycle," Nyoman said.

The police patrol failed to catch them, because one of them fired shots into the air. The police lost track of them on Jl. Casablanca in South Jakarta, he said.

On Wednesday, five unidentified men robbed a businessman of Rp 13.5 million in front of his house on Jl. Gudang Peluru in Tebet, also South Jakarta.

Jason Ifan, who had just withdrawn the money form BCA bank's Lapangan Ros branch, was stabbed by one of the suspects when he and his sister, Brigita Jason, were just about to leave his jeep.

Ifan suffered stab wounds in the legs, while Brigita was wounded in the left hand.

Meanwhile, Jakarta Police have arrested five men from two different gangs in connection with several bank customer robberies between 1990 and September this year, with a total loss of Rp 150 million.

Chief of the Jakarta detectives Col. Paimin AB said Andi Reynold, Ibrahim Tukat and Samsido Rivai from one of the gangs were arrested last month.

"One of them admitted to having robbed bank customers in Jakarta, Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong," Paimin said. He said the police also seized two motorcycles from them.

He said Gatot Haryono and Hasan Haji (alias Fauji) of the second gang were arrested on Oct. 26 and Oct. 27, respectively.

Paimin said the two gangs have several accomplices. "We are still hunting for the other gang members. It's only a matter of time," he said. (jun)