Bogor students raid gambling den
BOGOR (JP): Impatient with the city authorities' lack of action in curbing gambling in the city, some 80 students from three universities raided a gambling den on Jl. Siliwangi here on Tuesday night and confiscated at least Rp 700,000 in cash, plus various tokens and coupons.
The students, from the Bogor Agricultural Institute (IPB), Ibnu Chaldun University and the Bogor Pharmaceutical School, detained four gambling operators, identified as Sapril, Randoko, Dwi Prasetyo and Sutarma.
"This raid is a warning from us. We are serious about this.
"There are three gambling dens in Bogor, on Jl. Pajajaran, Jl. Siliwangi and in the Warung Jambu area. So they'd better watch out. We will take action again," student coordinator Rudi Ginting said.
Rudi was apparently annoyed as he has received four anonymous phone calls warning him to give up his efforts.
"We purposely did not coordinate with the police on this raid because we were afraid of a possible leak. We did not want to conduct a useless operation," Rudi said.
It is well known that many raids on gambling dens are unsuccessful due to insider tip offs, and that the operators are almost never taken to the court.
Gambling is illegal in Indonesia, but many people play an unofficial lottery called togel, or toto gelap. Every two or three days bets are made on two, three or four numbers which are released by dozens of gambling operators.
Offering a huge cash prize for winners, togel has captured the hopes of many less fortunate people who have been badly affected by the economic crisis.
During the raid, the students confiscated thousands of coins and togel coupons, a roulette table, a list of gamblers and Rp 700,000 in cash in two separate envelopes. One was addressed to the "Subdistrict Chief" and contained Rp 200,000 while the other, containing Rp 500,000, was addressed to "Police Officer".
A pack of high ranking military and police officials' name cards were found, as well as a warning letter from the district chief and a donation proposal to one prominent political party here.
All of the evidence was handed over to the police on Thursday by a group of 30 students, led by IPB student leader Ali Yusuf. They met with Bogor Regional Police chief Col. Hari Setyabudhi.
They gave the police one week to complete the dossiers.
In a related development, local police arrested 11 togel agents in five different raids on Wednesday.
"We launched raids in five different places: Lawangseketeng area, Baranang Siang terminal, Gang Aut, Merdeka station and Warung Jambu Plaza," E. Rukanda, Bogor chief of social and political affairs, said.
Police seized 337 togel books, a Jackpot machine and a Rolex watch in the raids.
The case is currently being investigated by Bogor police. (21/24/edt)