Beware of thieves in public transports

Beware of thieves in public transports

From Berita Buana

On Saturday, July 16, the Mikrolet minibus which my wife and I
were riding picked up four men about ten meters away from the
traffic light at the Jl. Otista III and Jl. Otista Raya
intersection. The men, whose ages ranged from 45 to 50 years old
and rather heavy, got into the vehicle which serves the Kampung
Rambutan terminal and Kampung Melayu terminal in East Jakarta. By
their neat appearance and the clothes they wore, they seemed to
be staff members of a company.

One of them took a seat on my left, two others sat opposite me
and the last one sat close to the vehicle's rear door. They
filled all the seats on the bus.

On the way to Kampung Melayu terminal, all of a sudden one of
the men sitting opposite of me gripped his left leg tightly and
cried out as if he were in extreme pain. He said that his leg was
cramping. Then he politely asked me to stretch out my right leg
so he could stretch his cramped leg.

When I moved my leg, he suddenly grabbed it and strangely used
my leg to massage his painful limb. The other passengers were
busy trying various ways to help relieve him of his pain.

As the vehicle was about to arrive at Kampung Melayu terminal,
I found that my wallet, which I keep inside my left trouser
pocket was missing, but I saw it lying on the floor of the
vehicle. I immediately thought that my wallet had simply fallen
out of my pocket. I knew that the cloth of my pocket was too
smooth and loose to hold my wallet. So, I asked my wife to keep
it inside her handbag.

At home, when I wanted to buy something, I was shocked to see
all my money had disappeared although my identity card, driving
license, and other papers were still there.

Then I realized that the man who sat on the left side of me
stole my money while my attention was drawn to his friend
suffering from the sudden pang in his leg.

I later learned that several people have also been victims of
such crimes.

SUPRIYO

East Jakarta