Bank customers say no to police protection
Bank customers say no to police protection
JAKARTA (JP): The city's police are mystyfied why most people are reluctant to ask police officers to accompany them when withdrawing money from banks.
"Many times we have asked customers to call for police help for security reasons to help them take money from banks without risk of losing it," City Police spokesman Lt. Co. Iman Haryatna said here yesterday.
"It's free of charge but we have no idea why many people are still reluctant to ask for police help," Iman told The Jakarta Post.
In the past few weeks, the city has seen a series of robberies of bank customers who were carrying large sums of money.
In most cases, the suspects are four people, wearing smart suits and jackets and riding on two motorcycles.
According to Iman, they keep a close watch on their would-be victims from the moment the money is taken at the bank. They then follow the target, who is normally accompanied by only a security guard, until a predetermined place was reached.
The latest robbery took place on Tuesday afternoon in front of the CSIS (Center of Strategic and International Studies) building on Jl. Tanah Abang III, Central Jakarta.
The four-member gang, riding on two motorcycles, snatched a bag containing Rp 60 million (US$26,000) in cash from an employee of the CSIS who had just withdrawn the money from a bank.
The money was meant for the CSIS employees' monthly salaries.
"So far there has been no progress in our investigations into this case," Iman said.
Iman quoted the CSIS employee, Suherman, as saying that the incident happened very quickly.
As Suherman got out of the car, the robber approached him in front of the entrance door and suddenly grabbed the bag.
Reliable police sources said that the robbers, who specialize in stealing money from bank customers are members of a widely- linked syndicate, based in a small town in West Java.
Their operation covers many big cities both here and abroad, including Singapore and Hong Kong, a police officer said.
"They are tough but not smart enough not to be caught," he said, refusing to give further details.
Two other robberies in the past few days took place at crossroads on Jl. Otista in East Jakarta and Jl. Latumenten in West Jakarta, resulting in a total loss of Rp 61 million.
According to Iman, the presence of one or two police officers, usually armed with guns, might help prevent the money being stolen. (bsr)