Driver attacked and killed over Rp 100 dispute

TANGERANG (JP): Life is often too cheap for people eking out a living on the streets. A minor quarrel over a simple dispute often leads to a bloody ending.

But such grim, hard-to-believe, incidents do not only happen during this time of hardship where the prices of goods and services continue to skyrocket.

On Tuesday evening at the edge of Jl. Cemara at the Karawaci housing complex, Maulana, 23, a public minivan driver was severely beaten and slashed to death by a gang of three men over Rp 100, the price of the cheapest piece of candy here.

Witnesses at the scene recalled that the three men, who collect money from angkot drivers for their "service" in directing passengers to their vehicles, were upset when Maulana refused their demand for cash.

"The driver did not want to pay the money and this led to a heated argument and a fight between them," an eyewitness said.

During the fight, which took place at about 7 p.m., one of the three men pulled out a machete he had at his back and used it to repeatedly slash the driver.

So far, local police have not been able to identify the killers.

Locals said that Maulana, who had lost a lot of blood, attempted to chase after the three attackers but fell onto the street about 100 meters from the scene of the attack.

His body is at the morgue of Tangerang General Hospital, awaiting relatives.

A fellow driver, Rohadi, 30, said such a dispute between drivers of angkot R 02's plying the Karawaci housing complex- Pasar Anyar route and the illegal money collectors at the scene had been taking place for quite some time.

"They make us angry by forcing the drivers to pay them Rp 100 for their unclear service," he said.

The money collectors, locally known as calo, can be found in many places, particularly at popular bus stops, in big cities across the country.

These calo usually mention the destinations of the public minivans and buses to the waiting passengers and, in return, force the drivers or attendants to give them some money, ranging from Rp 100 to Rp 500, depending on the number of passengers.

With or without the calo, passengers are aware of the destinations of the buses. Furthermore, each of the public buses and minivans have their own attendants to help identify the routes.

According to Rohadi, he and his friends rushed to the site immediately after being informed of the attack on Maulana and decided to teach a lesson to the three calo that evening.

"But, we were asked to leave the scene by the police officers," he said.

Tangerang Police said their detectives were investigating the case. (41/bsr)