Driver killed over Rp 2,000 dispute

Driver killed over Rp 2,000 dispute

TANGERANG (JP): A Prestasi taxi driver was mobbed and killed
on Sunday evening by a gang of hoodlums over a Rp 2000 dispute in
Serpong, an officer said.

Police subprecinct chief First Insp. Widji Listianto
identified the victim as Rizal, 31, a resident of Tanjung Gedong,
West Jakarta, and the suspects, all still at large, as those
normally demanding money from taxi drivers waiting for passengers
in the area.

"Police are still tracing the possible whereabouts of the
suspects, who managed to escape shortly after our arrival," Widji
said.

Based on preliminary investigations, the victim, who normally
parked his taxi in the area along with his fellow taxi drivers,
was just about to leave the site with a passenger at around 7
p.m. when one of the culprits approached him and asked for a
"waiting fee" of Rp 2,000 (two U.S. cents).

Rizal apparently refused to meet the request and eventually
alighted from his taxi and became involved in a heated argument
with the hoodlum, officer Widji said.

The quarrel led the other gang members to rush to the scene
where they immediately mobbed the taxi driver, he said.

"One of the suspects hit Rizal on the back of the head with a
bar as a result of which he fell down on the ground unconscious,"
the officer quoted witnesses as saying.

Rizal died on the way to Tangerang General Hospital.

"We hope that we will be able to catch this gang of hoodlums
soon, as they are always making problems for taxi drivers in the
area," Widji said.

In March of this year, a public minivan driver, Maulana, 23,
was beaten and slashed to death by a gang of three men over Rp
100 at the side of Jl. Cemara in the Karawaci housing complex.

Witnesses at the scene recalled that the three men, who
collect money from minivan drivers for their "services" in
directing passengers to their vehicles, were upset when Maulana
refused their demand for cash. (41/bsr)