Migrant workers robbed upon arrival home

BOGOR: Four migrant workers who had just returned from Malaysia were found unconscious in a villa here on Tuesday morning after they were robbed by men they met upon arrival at Soekarno-Hatta Airport the previous day.

The workers were rushed to hospital. One of them, Ridwan, was still in a coma as of Wednesday.

The owner of the villa, Unun Pramana Sucipto, 70, said on Tuesday that on Monday at about 2 p.m., 12 people in a minivan arrived and rented the villa. Two hours later, three people left, followed by five others. They had backpacks and other belongings with them. "I was not suspicious. I thought they would return later," he said.

In the morning, Unun found a wounded, bleeding man on the floor. He immediately reported the case to the police.

First Insp. AS Ridwan of the Cisarua Police told reporters later that the robbers deceived the victims at the airport by claiming they were from the same hometown and that they had also just returned home from Malaysia. The robbers then suggested that they take a rest in Cisarua before returning home. In the villa, they gave the victims herbal drinks laced with barbiturates.

One of them, Ridwan, however, gained conscious before the robbers left, and was severely beaten by the robbers.--JP