Bogor trains used for gambling

BOGOR (JP): Regular passengers on the economy-class trains plying the Bogor-Jakarta route are complaining about the presence of certain men who close the last cars for gambling.

The passengers told The Jakarta Post on Thursday that the actions of these gamblers had forced other passengers into the already crowded remaining carriages.

"These men lock the last carriage almost every day, particularly during peak hours, such as at 7 a.m.," one passenger, Novi, a student of a private university in Jakarta, said.

She said she thought that the cart was intentionally closed by staff of the state-owned railway firm PT KAI.

According to Daud, a shop attendant at Mangga Dua shopping center in West Jakarta, the gamblers regularly meet on the trains for gambling.

"Strangely, none of the KAI staff were willing to check the locked cars," said Daud.

They only made their routine checks on passengers in the executive air-conditioned carriages, tickets for which are of course much more expensive than ours," Daud said.

When asked to comment, master of the Bogor railway station, Zaenal Arifin, strongly denied the accusations, calling them totally baseless.

He said he had never received reports of any gambling on the trains.

"These kinds of passengers, if found guilty, would be immediately brought to the police for further interrogation.

"We don't want to create an image that trains in Indonesia have been changed into casinos," Zaenal said. (21/bsr)