Motorist survives torture ordeal by toll road thieves

Motorist survives torture ordeal by toll road thieves

JAKARTA (JP): Police intelligence officers of the Penjaringan
precinct apologized to a man who suffered 45 minutes of torture
at the hands of six toll road car thieves and who still managed
to crawl 500 meters on his injured legs to reach the Gedong toll
gate in North Jakarta on Thursday night.

Chief of Penjaringan police intelligence unit Second Lt.
Soetarmo identified the victim as 42-year-old Agus Trisulistyo
Budi.

"I am thankful to the Gedong toll gate operators who
immediately rescued the victim and got him to the nearby Atmajaya
hospital," Soetarmo told reporters on Friday.

"Car thefts are bad enough. But torture as the one suffered by
Agus is too much. My condolences and support to his family."

Yudi Prawati, Agus's wife, said her husband had been
transferred to the Mitra Keluarga hospital in North Jakarta,
where he is currently recovering.

Soetarmo said the case had been transferred to police of the
Bekasi precinct, the area where the incident began.

Yudi said her husband, a manager at cellphone chip producer PT
Hirosea in Cikarang, Bekasi, was returning home in his Suzuki
Sidekick jeep, via the Cikarang toll road, at about 7:15 p.m.,
when a blue Kijang van came out of nowhere on the toll road and
hit his jeep.

"My husband got out of his car to check for damage and saw
that there was really nothing to be worried about. He got back
into his car. Suddenly, the driver of the Kijang got out and
started banging on Agus's door," Yudi said, quoting her husband.

"When Agus got out, the Kijang driver slammed Agus's body
against the jeep, pulled his hands behind him and choked Agus
with very strong arms. That's how it all began."

Yudi said her husband was dumped on the floor of the jeep's
back seat, while his hands were cuffed to the jeep's door.

"Two men sat in front, and the other two behind. The two at
the back kept kicking Agus in the back and head. They took his
watch, his wallet, which only had Rp 30,000, and kept on
kicking," she said, adding that two other people drove the Kijang
van, following the jeep.

Yudi said Agus had tried to lift his swollen head up to
somehow grab the attention of the toll gate operators when they
got to the Pondok Gede Timur toll gate.

"The thieves grabbed my husband's face and shoved a revolver
into his mouth," she said.

"Then, Agus told me that the thieves started asking each
other, 'How should we kill him and where should we dump him?'"

"This really scared Agus. It was when they got to the Pluit
toll road that they suddenly kicked him out of the jeep. From
there Agus crawled to safety."

Agus managed to get to the Gedong toll gate, about 500 meters
from where he was thrown from the jeep, and was rescued by toll
gate operators at about 8:20 p.m. (ylt)