Gang pulls off RI's biggest train robbery
Gang pulls off RI's biggest train robbery
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
About 40 people hijacked three Serayu economy-class train cars
and robbed all passengers on board, making it the worst train
robbery in the country's history, an official said on Saturday.
The thieves robbed the passengers as the train headed to
Kroya, Central Java, from Jakarta, on Thursday, said state train
operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) Bandung operations
spokesman Sukendar Mulya.
At least 30 passengers lost their valuables in the robbery and
six others were thrown from the train after they fought with the
robbers. As of Saturday, police had arrested seven of the 40
robbers. "There were no security personnel on board the train. We
regret that," said Sukendar.
Train security personnel, who are under the command of the
company, usually guard business- and executive-class trains,
while, until recently, economy-class trains were guarded by
police officers hired by the company.
"The officers were absent because they were called in by their
superiors to help with security for the legislative and
presidential elections this year," he said.
According to a statement from a witness, the thieves commenced
the robbery as the train headed to Kroya from Jakarta's Kota
station on Thursday night. They were disguised as train vendors,
according to PT KAI official Akhmad Sudjadi, who quoted from
eyewitness Usman Tony, 32.
Some of them boarded the train when it stopped at Jatinegara
station, East Jakarta, on its way to Kroya.
The train comprised eight cars: three passenger cars in front,
followed by a generator car, a restaurant car and three more
passenger cars.
As the train reached Bekasi, the lights in the last three cars
suddenly went out: The robbers appear to have severed an
electricity cable somewhere on the train. They began to force the
passengers to hand over their valuables. Usman resisted the
robbers, so he was dragged to a door by some of them and thrown
out somewhere in the Karawang area.
Five other passengers suffered the same fate as he. Usman
suffered only light injuries, and walked to nearby Karawang
station to summon help.
With the train still in Karawang, the robbers activated the
emergency brake and left the train, according to other witnesses.
Karawang Police chief of detectives Adj. Comr. Iwan RS said on
Saturday that the fate of the five other passengers thrown from
the train was still unknown.
"However, I'm confident they're safe, because no fatalities
were reported along the railway line," he said.
PT KAI spokesman Noor Hamidi apologized for the incident and
said that the company would ask the police to reassign at least
two officers to every economy-class train in future. Following
the incident, the company stated that it also planned to prohibit
casual food and beverage vendors from boarding trains.