Burglars steal Rp 70m from PT Ajinomoto

Burglars steal Rp 70m from PT Ajinomoto

JAKARTA (JP): Six robbers yesterday broke into the office of PT Ajinomoto Indonesia, a joint-venture firm located in North Jakarta, making off with around Rp 70 million in cash.

The robbers, armed with sharp weapons and using a Kijang van, broke into the office compound by scaling the back gate, North Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira told The Jakarta Post.

"The robbery occurred at around 2 a.m.," Abubakar said.

The Indonesian-Japanese company, located at Jl. Yos Soedarso 77-78, produces monosodium glutamate under the brand name of Ajinomoto.

When contacted by phone, a female secretary of the company's president refused to allow the Post to talk to her boss for further confirmation about the amount of losses and other things related to the robbery.

"Just ask the police," she said, refusing to give her name.

According to the police, North Jakarta detectives are now hunting down the six robbers.

"All of their identities are clear enough to us," said Abubakar, expressing optimism that his personnel would soon apprehend the robbers as he believes they live close to the company.

The identities of the suspects were obtained from a number of eyewitnesses, including the security guards and on-duty workers of the firm, said Abubakar.

After scaling the rear gate, the robbers rounded up all four security guards and five other workers, including a servant and a mechanic, said the officer.

The robbers then made the nine people get into one of the company's cars and threatened to kill them if they screamed for help, he said.

"None of the victims were injured," Abubakar said.

As of yesterday, police had no indication whether there were any insiders involved in the robbery.

"Just wait until we catch the six suspects," Abubakar said. (bsr)