Man hijacks shuttle bus with fake bombs
Man hijacks shuttle bus with fake bombs
Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Apparently inspired by some twisted Hollywood action movie, an
unemployed Indonesian, Eko Purwanto, hijacked a Damri shuttle bus
heading to Soekarno-Hatta International Airport from Rawamangun
in East Jakarta on Wednesday afternoon.
Eko stood in front of the 21 passengers, holding what appeared
to be three pipe bombs wired up to a cellular phone, as the bus
passed kilometer 24 of the harbor toll road near Pluit, North
Jakarta, at around 2:30 p.m.
He tried to rob the passengers asking them for their cell
phones, wallets, jewelry and other belongings or he would
detonate the "bomb". He even claimed he was the real bomber of
the JW Marriott hotel in South Jakarta.
But bus driver Rianto managed to foil the robbery attempt by
stopping the bus right next to a police patrol car parked on the
side of the toll road and opened the rear door from a control
near the driver's seat.
Passengers rushed out frantically from the bus while one of
them tried to break the bus' window to escape what he believed
would be an imminent explosion.
Four policemen in the car jumped into the bus and pointed
their guns at Eko.
The policemen -- Second Adj. Insp. Suhada, Brig. Robin, Brig.
Karnadi and Brig. Sabar -- kept their distance from the would-be
phony pipe bomb robber, until he began screaming, "Don't shoot,
it's not a real bomb!"
When they were assured that the bomb was just a ruse, they
arrested him and took him down to Jakarta Police Headquarters for
questioning.
"I have been out of work for three months. I have no money to
pay my rent of Rp 300,000 (US$35)," Eko told reporters at the
headquarters.
Eko spent Rp 10,000 to buy materials for the fake bombs at the
Jatinegara market in East Jakarta. He rigged "the pipe bombs"
with cables and a toy cell phone which was placed inside the
pipes to give the impression that they were real bombs.
Police said that his motive was purely robbery.
Eko will be charged under Criminal Code articles 365 on
robbery. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of nine
years in prison.