Head of criminal gang shot dead

TANGERANG (JP): Tangerang police detectives shot dead a notorious leader of a gang of robbers in a raid at Nagrak village in Jatiuwung subdistrict in the wee hours on Wednesday.

Tangerang Police chief Pudji Hartanto said the detectives were forced to shoot Amir Syarifudin, 38, in the back after firing two warning shots because he fought back against them and tried to escape during the incident at 3:10 a.m.

Amir, long on the police's most wanted list, and his fellow gang members had reportedly committed an extraordinary number of robberies, especially against street traders headed to morning markets on public transportation.

"This group usually pretended to be regular commuters, as if they were also going to do some shopping in the markets in the early morning hours," Pudji said.

In the middle of the trips, the gang would pounce on the unsuspecting passengers, he said.

"They often incapacitated anybody who attempted to stop them, and took every single item from their victims," Pudji said.

He said the gang's most recent robbery occurred on Jl. Raya Bayur, also at Jatiuwung, in which they grabbed Rp 8.5 million in cash from a trader.

None of Amir's relatives has come forward to claim his body at Tangerang General Hospital.

Although Pudji did not disclose the number of gang members, he said one of them, identified only as Mus, 35, had been arrested at his hideout in the town of Karawang, West Java. (41/bsr)