Extorters of ATM users arrested
Extorters of ATM users arrested
JAKARTA (JP): The South Jakarta police have busted three
members of a gang thought to have waged a year-long campaign
against automatic teller machine (ATM) users.
One of the three suspects was shot in the leg while trying to
flee and the fourth is still at large as he escaped the Friday
night raid, City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said
Saturday.
"We have been looking for this group of four for at least a
year. They have robbed at least 30 ATM cardholders by using the
same intrigue, that is intimidating the victims and then
extorting their money," he said.
The three suspects, identified only as AS, AL and Sud, were
arrested while beating up Johannes Frans Sugandi in an empty
field on Jl. Fatmawati, he said.
"The group of four first accused the victim of having crashed
a car belonging to one of the suspects. They then forced the
victim to pay for the vehicle's repair," said Aritonang.
Preliminary police investigations revealed that Johannes was
walking alone in the Atrium shopping mall in Senen, Central
Jakarta, on Friday evening when one of the suspects approached
him and accused him of damaging the gang's car, the officer said.
The suspects quickly surrounded Johannes when the latter
attempted to defend himself against the allegation.
"But apparently the suspects, in some way, threatened Johannes
so the latter could do nothing to prevent them taking him to the
crime scene by taxi," Aritonang said.
He said that Johannes was then forced to hand over all his
three ATM cards along with their Personal Identification Numbers.
Aritonang refused to disclose the issuers of the ATM cards.
"While one of the gang members went to a nearby ATM to
withdraw some cash, the victim was guarded by the other three
suspects," he said.
The suspects became angry when they found out that there was
only Rp 15,000 (US$1.75) left in Johannes' account.
They immediately attacked the man, Aritonang said.
Fortunately, he said, a police patrol from the Cilandak police
subprecinct saw the incident and fired a warning shot in an
attempt to halt the beating.
AL and AS surrendered but Sud and the other suspect fled. Sud
surrendered after an officer shot him in the leg but the other
one managed to get away, the spokesman said.
The suspects face a maximum of 12 years in jail if found
guilty of robbing and assaulting their victims. (cst)