Metro Jaya Police Probe Begal Network Through Digital Forensics of Suspects' Phones
Metro Jaya Regional Police say they will not stop at arresting the street-crime perpetrators; they are pursuing the networks believed to shelter the suspects to dismantle the street-crime chain comprehensively. Director of General Criminal Investigation (Dirreskrimum) of Metro Jaya, Commissioner Iman Imannuddin, said the Begal Hunter Team was formed based on police statistics showing a rise in several models of street crime. ‘In the investigation process, we do not stop at what we have already arrested. We are currently digging into the networks above the perpetrators,’ he told reporters in Jakarta on Saturday, 23 May 2026.
As a tactical step, investigators are tracing all mobile phones of the apprehended perpetrators. This comprehensive examination has been entrusted directly to the Police’s Digital Forensics Laboratory. ‘We hope that from the digital forensics lab results we can obtain deeper information, whether there are indications beyond the crimes we have disclosed so far,’ he added.
Iman also addressed public perception of the risk map for street crime in the capital. Police data show that incidents are fairly evenly distributed across areas, and not only concentrated in West Jakarta. However, there is a phenomenon of amplification on social media that makes it appear that most incidents occur in West Jakarta. ‘What’s interesting is the amplification on several social platforms that suggests it is happening entirely in West Jakarta,’ Iman said. The cyber team is examining whether any actor deliberately uses the digital space to spread psychological fear. ‘Is there something amplified to create fear or unease in society? We will not allow that,’ he stressed.
Nevertheless, Iman acknowledged West Jakarta has a highly heterogeneous socio-economic and educational profile, factors that police say contribute to the dynamics of crime in the area. He stressed that the joint field teams are still active in pursuing the networks of receivers and funders of the crimes. ‘We will not stop here; we will continue the probing,’ he concluded. (Z-2)
The Metro Jaya Police and its regency counterparts also revealed 127 police reports related to street crime from 1 May to 22 May 2026, enforcing 173 suspects. They arrested four perpetrators of motorcycle theft with violence, including one who brandished a weapon at Duren Sawit Hospital. Through the Begal-Hunting Team, the Metro Jaya Police arrested 16 street criminals in operations over three consecutive days in Jakarta and surrounding areas. The South Jakarta District Court held the first hearing of a pre-trial application filed by KontraS activist Andrie Yunus through counsel against the Metro Jaya Police. The Metro Jaya Police and the DKI Provincial Government integrated 24,000 CCTV cameras for Jakarta’s security with privacy protection and strict SOPs.