Bus hijacker mentally sound: police

JAKARTA: Police said on Monday that the suspect in a recent attempted bus hijacking, Eko Purwanto, was of sound mind.

"Police rushed him to the hospital not because of his being insane but due to injuries inflicted on him by an angry mob. He was fully in possession of his wits when he hijacked the bus," said Jakarta Police detectives' chief Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang.

Eko is still being held at police headquarters.

"He has been charged under article 368 of the Criminal Code on extortion," he said, adding that Eko could face a maximum sentence of nine years in jail.

The unemployed man tried to hijack a shuttle bus heading to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from Rawamangun, East Jakarta, on the Pluit toll road in North Jakarta last Wednesday with three fake pipe bombs wired up to a toy cell phone. His motive was the theft of the passengers' belongings.

His action was foiled by bus driver Rianto, who stopped the bus next to a police patrol car parked on the side of the toll road.

Rianto and his conductor have been awarded a token of appreciation by the city police's traffic division for their success in foiling the hijacking, along with the four police officers who arrested Eko. -- JP