Bogor students raid gambling den
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)