Four men rob driver, speed off with cab

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After a series of robberies in taxis targeted at women passengers, a taxi driver was robbed early on Wednesday by four male passengers.

The taxi driver, identified as Hendri Irawan, had just started working at 3 a.m. when four men flagged down the red-and-white taxi and got in.

While in the taxi, one of them suddenly held a knife to Hendri's neck while the others robbed him of his money. The four men later kicked him out of the vehicle and drove off.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said that the police suspected the four were members of a band of thieves.

"It is possible that it's the same gang that has been robbing women taxi passengers over the past several months. We hope to be able to solve the case as soon as possible," he said.

Wednesday's robbery was the 14th to involve a taxi this year, with the police having solved only one case so far.

On Tuesday, female passenger Halimah, 30, was robbed by a taxi driver in Sunter. She managed, however, to snatch the driver's identification card from the dashboard before being thrown from the taxi.

Armed with the identification card, the police arrested the suspected robber, identified as Rusli alias Rudy, a freelance taxi driver, at his rented house in Kampung Sawah, Cilincing, North Jakarta, on the same day.

Police said that the incident suggested that previous taxi robberies may have also been perpetrated by freelance taxi drivers in connivance with the legitimate drivers of certain taxi companies.

Police said they were finding it difficult to identify the culprits due to a lack of clues.

Last Saturday, Reysah, 20, was robbed by a taxi driver and his accomplices while several days earlier Susan Bayu Aji, 32, was robbed by her taxi driver and two men who got into the taxi as she was on her way home from a birthday party in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

Early last month, Ellaide Rumiaty Tampubolon was also robbed inside a taxi, that was made to appear like a Blue Bird taxi.