Jakarta crimes becoming more violent: Hamami

Jakarta crimes becoming more violent: Hamami

JAKARTA (JP): City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Hamami Nata says
that although city crime rates have fallen in recent years, the
crimes themselves are becoming more violent.

He said the recent spate of bank customer and taxi driver
robberies was serious.

"We are concerned about the ever increasing number of armed
robberies in the city," Hamami said Saturday after assigning some
300 more officers to the city's mobile police brigade.

The officers will help the city police precincts combat armed
robberies, city police spokesman Maj. Nyoman Suriasta said
yesterday.

Nyoman said city police would also post undercover officers in
public places, including banks, bus shelters and markets.

There have been at least five major robberies in the last two
months of people who had just withdrawn money from their banks.

During the robberies, the tires of customers' cars were
usually deflated, the customers threatened with machetes or
knives, and the robbers often shot into the air to scare away any
would-be Good Samaritans. Some of the robbers rode motorcycles.

On Oct. 11, a private firm employee was shot to death by one
of three robbers who made off with Rp 350 million (around
US$148,000) on the Jagorawi toll road in Bogor.

The victim, Zaenuddin, had just withdrawn Rp 650 million from
the Bank BRI's Bogor branch.

On Sept. 17, two unidentified men, one with a gun, robbed a
man of Rp 33 million in Cilandak, South Jakarta.

The victim, Fransiscus Theodorus, was intercepted by two men
on a motorcycle when his driver stopped their Kijang van because
of a puncture. Theodorus, the manager of a language institute in
South Jakarta, had just withdrawn money from Bank BRI's Lebak
Bulus branch.

Hamami has again called on people to request police escorts
when withdrawing money from banks, Nyoman said.

On Oct. 17, taxi drivers were robbed in Bekasi, South Jakarta
and West Jakarta. The robbers threatened their victims with
knives and one of the drivers was stabbed to death.

President taxi driver Sjamsul Bahri, 40, was found dead in his
car with 16 stab wounds in his chest. He was found in the remote
village of Setia Mulya, Taruma Jaya, Bekasi. The murderer is
still at large.

Hamami said earlier that at least 10 taxi drivers were robbed
and killed by passengers every year. (jun)