Girls caught for 'robbing' taxi driver

BEKASI, West Java (JP): Two teenage girls were caught in a rice field near a remote West Java village yesterday shortly after they had allegedly robbed a taxi driver.

Marg, 16, and Sar, 18, who confessed to being involved in the robbery, were hiding in a rice field when they were captured by villagers, said Capt. Djoko Poerwanto, the chief detective of Bekasi police precinct.

Ropi'i, 27, a President taxi driver told reporters three men and two women stopped him outside a private hospital here on Friday evening and asked him take them to a village in Babelan district.

"When we reached a remote area near a rice field, one of the male passengers told me to pull over, and another strangled me with a metal chain," Ropi'i said.

Ropi'i, a resident of Pademangan Barat, North Jakarta, said that before he fainted he saw two of the robbers, including Marg who was seated next to him, take his wallet from his pocket.

"Then they fled into the rice field," said Ropi'i.

He regained consciousness when the driver of a ojek (motorcycle taxi) asked him what had happened.

Ropi'i told police the robbers stole, Rp 40,000 (US$17)

"The three men involved in the robbery are still at large but it's only a matter of time before we can nab them because we know who they are," said Djoko.

Ropi'i is the fourth taxi driver robbed in the city and surrounding areas last week.

On Thursday a President taxi driver was killed in his cab by his passengers in Bekasi, while Mukasin, a Agung Citra Wibawa taxi driver was stabbed in the back in South Jakarta by passengers who stole Rp 25,000 from him.

Also on Thursday, a Sri Medali taxi driver was robbed by his passengers in West Jakarta. He was stabbed several times in the head before the criminals stole Rp 100,000 and the taxi radio. (kod)