Driver assistant stabbed for Rp 200

Driver assistant stabbed for Rp 200

JAKARTA (JP): Two people were killed in separate crimes
Thursday and Friday which involved money and gold of little
value.

A Metromini bus driver's assistant was stabbed to death by a
man in South Jakarta Friday night for refusing to hand over Rp
200 (8.3 U.S. cents).

In West Jakarta, a man was mobbed to death by residents for
stealing a three gram gold necklace Thursday night.

The driver's assistant, 23-year-old Fery Simanjuntak, was
stabbed in the stomach at about 6:30 p.m. near the Block A
traditional market on Jl. R.S. Fatmawati.

A South Jakarta Police precinct sergeant said the incident
took place at a bus shelter in front of the market.

He said a man known as a local hoodlum at the market
approached Fery and demanded Rp 200. The officer said this was
the usual amount hoodlums asked from Metromini bus crew.

But Fery, who arrived from Medan, North Sumatra, two months
ago, refused to pay.

"The hoodlum suddenly stabbed Fery and escaped," the officer
said.

Bus driver Rico Simanjuntak rushed Fery to the Fatmawati
hospital and reported the attack to police.

"Fery died around 9:30 p.m. on his way to the hospital," he
said.

Police arrested and questioned several people at the market.

Relatives picked up Fery's body at the Cipto Mangunkusumo
General Hospital's morgue for burial in Medan.

In West Jakarta the suspected thief, Ma'ad, was mobbed to
death by residents on Jl. Puspa, Cengkareng. His accomplice,
Budi, was seriously injured.

A West Jakarta Police precinct officer said Ma'ad, 20, and
Budi, 22, approached Suwarno, who lived on Jl. Rawa Buaya, while
he was walking from his office.

Ma'ad threatened Suwarno with a sickle, while Budi grabbed the
victim's three-gram gold necklace, he said.

"Suwarno shouted for help as the robbers escaped," the officer
said.

Locals chased the suspects and beat them," he said. (jun)