Hunt on for three men in three robbery-murders

JAKARTA (JP): Bekasi and West Jakarta Police detectives were searching for murder suspects on Good Friday in connection with the killings of a woman and two men in three separate robberies on Thursday and Friday.

In the latest case, two men attempting to rob a girl and her boyfriend at Lemah Abang railway station in Bekasi on Friday morning ended up stabbing the girl to death.

They also left the boyfriend, currently receiving treatment at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, with serious stab wounds.

"The young victims were lovers. They were due to be engaged in May. They were heading for Bandung, West Java, where the boy's parents live," Bekasi Police chief Lt. Col. Sutarman told reporters.

He identified the dead female victim as Febriana Farida, 22, and the surviving male victim as Christianus, 26.

"After such a tragic incident, I think most people now will get a clear picture as to why local residents get so mad when it comes to criminals... people just end up killing or burning them alive."

He added that the two suspects had used a motorcycle to arrive at the railway station, and that the suspects used knives to kill the girl and to seriously wound the boy.

"This incident occurred in front of several bystanders who were waiting at the station... but not one person had the sense to jot down the (registration) number of the suspects' motorcycle. Witnesses told us that they were terrified," Sutarman said.

He said one of the suspects, Alimin, 28, however, was later mobbed to death by residents, while the other escaped.

Separately at Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital morgue, Febriana's uncle, police officer Sgt. Maj. Jodi Jaya, said Christianus and his niece were about to take the Parahyangan train to Bandung.

"The couple's engagement ceremony was scheduled for early May. They would have been married soon after the engagement," Jodi sadly said.

He stated that the couple was waiting for the train when two unidentified men approached them asking for money.

"They refused to hand over the money. My niece is a Taekwondo martial arts expert... she wanted to rescue her boyfriend. She thought she could take both suspects by herself," he said.

The decision to withhold the money proved to be fatal as the suspects took out their knives and attacked the lovers.

Febriana died on the spot, with three stab wounds to her arm, underarm and left chest. The fatal stab to her chest pierced her lung and heart.

"Christianus saw her fall... he fought back. It didn't take long for him to fall too, with four stab wounds to his chest and stomach," Jodi said.

Meanwhile, West Jakarta police detectives are searching for two men, one in connection with the Friday morning murder of an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver, and the other for the Thursday night murder of a security guard.

Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said on Friday that ojek driver, Baharuddin, 44, was drugged at about 3 a.m. on Friday by a man who pretended to be a passenger. The suspect later took off with the victim's motorcycle.

Baharuddin's corpse was found lying on Jl. Pondok Bambu in Duri Kosambi subdistrict.

"The suspect said that he wanted to be taken to the Duri Kosambi area... on the way, he drugged the suspect, probably using a chloroformed handkerchief. It's not clear as yet how the victim died," Zainuri said.

"Baharuddin's motorcycle, a black Kawasaki with the registration number B 3926 TB, was stolen."

On Thursday night, two men attempted to steal a silver Suzuki Baleno sedan belonging to local resident Kumalawati, which was parked outside her residence on Jl. Kusuma, Block E, No. 41, of the Taman Duta Mas housing complex.

"Some residents who witnessed this immediately alerted the complex's security guard, Adeng, who ran after the suspects till they reached the roof of a house," Surahman, a city police patrol unit officer who happened to be in the area, said.

"When Adeng screamed at them, one of them took out an FN gun, and shot Adeng in the neck, killing him."

Local residents caught hold of one of the two suspects and nearly mobbed him to death. Surahman tried stopping him, but the suspect resisted and got shot through the forehead and died. The other suspect managed to escape. (ylt/06)