Crimes on outskirts not serious: Hamami

Crimes on outskirts not serious: Hamami

JAKARTA (JP): City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata denied
allegations that crime on the outskirts of Jakarta has reached an
alarming level.

"The situation is not as bad as many newspapers have reported.
It seems to me the press tend to exaggerate things," he told
House of Representatives Commission III for law in a hearing on
Wednesday.

House member Sabar Kumbino asked if the spate of crimes in
Bekasi, for instance, was deliberately engineered by land
speculators to frighten the victims away from the area.

"If such is the case, certain parties could buy the land
deserted by the villagers at a lower price," he reasoned.

Judging from newspaper reports, he deduced that security in
Bekasi is so pitiful that villagers live in great fear.

Sabar said Bekasi has been rocked by a series of violent
crimes, including rape and robbery, since the gang rape and
robbery at the Acan house last March. Eleven men raped two
teenage girls before robbing Acan.

Police managed to arrest the rapists. They were sentenced to
between five and 14 years in prison.

The latest crime, on June 7, involved seven thieves robbing
several houses in Cibarusah and Serang. They made off with a
total of Rp 1.4 million in cash and 70 grams of gold.

The gang's first victim was Asep, a soybean-cake factory
worker in Cibarusah. Before stealing Rp 1.2 million in cash and
35 grams of jewelry, five of the seven robbers allegedly raped
Asep's wife in front of the bound Asep and his daughter.

Hamami dismissed allegations that the crimes spate was
engineered, but promised to investigate the charge.

He said many crimes in Bekasi take place in remote or secluded
areas.

Handoyo Putro, from the Indonesian Democratic Party faction,
blamed rapid development for the growing number of crimes in
Bekasi.

"Bekasi has grown into an industrial town where factories are
sprouting. And this is one factor that has made Bekasi prone to
criminal acts," he asserted.(16/bas)