Fatal free drinks in buses, trains

I am a 54-year-old taxi driver, and I nearly lost my life recently because of a stupid bottled drink. It is my hope that after reading this letter, people will become more alert when they are riding air-conditioned buses or trains.

Last December, I took an air-conditioned bus from Jakarta, to my hometown in Indramayu, Central Java. I had taken all my life's savings with me, which was about Rp 4 million. I wanted to hand this over to my family in Indramayu.

In this bus, which by my standards was a luxury bus, a well- dressed passenger was speaking to me nicely; he seemed very nice. Suddenly, he offered me a bottled drink. At first I refused but he was persistent, telling me that it was a "health" drink and that it would refresh me.

I believed him, because he seemed to be a good man. I took a few sips. It tasted as sweet as honey. As I don't like sweet things, I gave him the drink back. A few moments later I fainted.

When I got up, I found myself lying in a hospital bed in Cirebon, feeling half dead. The nurse told me that police had brought me to the hospital. I had lost all the clothes I was carrying, and of course, all my money and my ID card.

The nurse told me that I was lucky, since I had only taken a few sips. She said that the culprit had given the same drink to another passenger in the bus I was riding. The other victim who drank the whole drink had died. I lodged a complaint with the police when I finally reached Indramayu.

SAYADI

Jakarta