Highway robbery gearing up on public vehicles

Evi Mariani, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Jakarta commuters are familiar with the threat to their possessions posed by pickpockets aboard buses, minibuses, minivans and trains. But the latest police data reveals that the more serious crime of robbery with violence aboard public transportation has risen dramatically.

According to data from March, the number of incidents of robbery with violence jumped fourfold to eight cases from two cases in both January and February.

The crimes took place aboard minibuses, air-conditioned buses and minivans.

In a fatal incident on March 30, a member of the Sea and Air Police, Comr. Jaka Sampurna, 42, was robbed by five men aboard a public minivan on Jl. RE Martadinata in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta. The men stole Jaka's bag and then threw him out of the moving minivan.

The officer died last Monday at the Mitra Kemayoran Hospital after five days in a coma.

The Tanjung Priok Police arrested on Monday afternoon two of the suspected robbers, who reportedly confessed to their part in the crime. They said that the victim, who at the time of the robbery was not wearing his uniform, was the only passenger on board the minivan.

Police are still searching for the remaining three suspects.

In another incident aboard a public minivan in Serpong, Tangerang, on March 16, several men threatened a group of elementary school girls with knives and stole their bags.

The latest case reported to the police took place last Saturday at 11:30 p.m. aboard a public minivan traveling between Kampung Melayu and Gandaria in East Jakarta.

Three women who had just gotten on the minivan were held up by two armed men. However, the women's screams attracted residents to the scene, and they were able to apprehend the robbers and hand them over to the authorities.

Adrianus Meliala, a criminologist at the University of Indonesia, said violent robberies were not new to the city.

"This crime is not new, it is just that criminals change their methods from time to time, depending on the situation," he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. "Once the police catch on to one method, the criminals change to a new one."

Despite the fact that the Jakarta Police have widened their patrols to cover the entire capital, Adrianus said this was not sufficient to stop robberies aboard public transportation.

"The police should plant plainclothes detectives on board public transportation. That would be more effective," he said.