Dian taxi driver found dead in his cab

JAKARTA (JP): A 28-year-old taxi driver from PT Dian Taxi was found dead between the front seats of his cab, parked on Jl. Perjuangan Raya in West Jakarta Tuesday midnight, police said yesterday.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang told reporters that the body of Suryanto had a strangulation mark on his neck and injuries were found on the head.

The dead body was spotted at about 11.55 p.m. by a passerby, Heri, who is an employee at the nearby Blora restaurant, the official said.

"Heri was curious because he had passed back and forth along the street two times and he noticed the taxi had not moved. He then looked through the window and saw the body," Aritonang said.

He said the cab's engine was not running and that the meter had also been turned off.

"A few meters from the cab (number plate B 1153 MX), police found a belt which was probably used by the killer to wrap around Suryanto's neck," Aritonang said.

Police also found Rp 41,500 in cash inside Suryanto's pocket. "And all of the car documents are complete and intact," he added.

The case is being investigated by the Kembangan police subprecinct with the cab, money and belt seized as evidence, he said.

Suryanto's body was admitted to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital for a postmortem examination.

A fellow Dian Taxi driver, Arpen Pemi, told reporters at the hospital that Suryanto should not have been behind the wheel that Tuesday evening.

But Pemi and other fellow drivers could not clearly explain why Suryanto was found dead in his taxi because they did not know the victim, who joined the taxi firm some three months ago, very well.

According to Suryanto's uncle, Sugianto, the victim visited him at his house in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta that evening and left at about 6.30 p.m.

"He was very quiet that evening. He even refused when I offered him coffee and fried rice. But I was not too worried at that time because he was naturally a quiet man. He rarely talked to anyone about his problems," said Sugianto, a security officer at SWA business magazine.

He said that Suryanto, still single, was to be buried yesterday in his hometown, Ponorogo in East Java. (ivy/edt)