City police increase patrols following spate of armed robberies

City police increase patrols following spate of armed robberies

JAKARTA (JP): The city police have been intensifying their
street patrols in the wake of a recent wave of robberies.

According to Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis,
the increasing number of robberies was baffling the capital's
police.

"We are doing our best to handle all of them, but the
capital's residents must give us more time. We can't solve all of
them," Zainuri said on Tuesday.

The latest robbery took place on Tuesday afternoon. Four
robbers armed with a gun and a sickle stole some Rp 363 million
(US$51,860) from a cashier at a chain store in Tanah Abang,
Central Jakarta.

The robbers waylaid Slamet, a cashier at Ramayana, as he
entered the store through the back door. The thieves grabbed the
money and injured Slamet and a security guard in the ensuing
scuffle.

Witnesses said the robbers fled aboard two motorcycles.

The security guard, Nurisetiono, received a gunshot wound to
his right leg, and Slamet was slashed across his left arm and
elbow. The two were taken to Abdi Waluyo Hospital in Menteng,
Central Jakarta. The head of security at the Ramayana, Sulaeman
H.S, said all of the store's guards were unarmed.

Tanah Abang Police chief Capt. Suwito said the four robbers
had not been identified and that Central Jakarta Police
detectives had taken over the case.

"We have two bullet shells from the guns used by the robbers,
one bullet and a sickle. From the evidence, we know they used FN-
45 guns," Suwito said.

Separately, ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver Dulatif, 34, was
robbed early Tuesday by a passenger who requested a ride to
Pejompongan in Central Jakarta from Kampung Melayu in East
Jakarta.

The passenger, described as young and thin, is believed to
have been helped by an accomplice who was lying in wait.

Dulatif was struck on the back of the head with a wooden stick
before the culprits made off with his black Yamaha ZR motorcycle.

Tanah Abang Police officers rushed Dulatif to nearby Cipto
Mangunkusumo General Hospital, where he regained consciousness
around 6 a.m.

Street justice

In West Jakarta, residents of Kembangan subdistrict beat and
burned a suspected car thief, identified as Ali Mustafa, to death
on Tuesday morning. No one from the West Jakarta Police station
could be reached to comment on the incident.

Meanwhile, an attempted robbery took place aboard a bus
traveling on the Semanggi cloverleaf in South Jakarta. A 17-year-
old maritime school student was the target of a man who claimed
to be a university student.

The victim, identified as Jacky Sofriyantono, said the
suspect, Deddy Jumarwan, attempted to steal his watch and wallet
aboard the air-conditioned bus plying the Pulogadung-Blok M
route.

"The problem was, Deddy was so high he didn't know exactly
what he was doing. Luckily, a security officer was riding the bus
with the boys. He got them both and brought them to the South
Jakarta Police station," Zainuri said.

The suspect, who initially claimed to be a student at
Trisakti University in West Jakarta, changed his story at the
police station, saying he was studying international relations at
a university in Central Jakarta.

Police found seven packets of marijuana and Rohypnol
tranquilizer pills in the suspect's pockets.

In another incident, six men in a Kijang van robbed Yanto
Suyanto, 31, of his Colt van and 8.5 tons of rice on the
Cikampek-Jakarta toll road in Cibitung, Bekasi, at 4 a.m on
Monday.

Hasan Basori, 27, as associate of Yanto who was in the Colt
at the time of the robbery, said they had pulled off to the side
of the toll road to rest when the six men arrived in their
Kijang, tied them up and threw them in their van.

One of the robbers drove Yanto's van while another robber
drove Yanto and Hasan to Joglo in West Jakarta, where the two
were dropped off.

Meanwhile, a man held a knife to the throat of 34-year-old
Junaidi and stole his bag containing two Bank Central Asia
bankbooks and Rp 30 million in cash. The incident took place on
Jl. Raya Industri IV in Cikupa, Tangerang, at 11:30 a.m. on
Monday. (ylt/01)