Notorious fugitive shot to death

JAKARTA (JP): Police gunned down a wanted man yesterday after he tried to resist arrest, the City Police spokesman said.

Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the police were looking for another seven men believed to be members of two gangs.

The gangs, notorious for theft and burglary, had committed a number of robberies in Java and Sumatra, Aritonang said.

"Earlier this month, we arrested five members of the gangs. We will use their confessions to trace their accomplices," he said in his office yesterday.

The man killed by police was identified as 33-year-old gang member Robert Makmur Sitorus, alias The Acne. The shooting took place in his hideout in Cililitan, East Jakarta, police said.

Aritonang said Makmur was thought to have been one of the gangs' leaders. He was shot in his right thigh, chest and left temple while trying to grab an officer's gun.

Makmur was involved in several burglaries and had stolen at least Rp 137 million, US$14,000 and 13 kilograms of gold.

Makmur and other gang members were involved in a robbery at a jewelry store in Cempaka Putih, Central Jakarta, last November. They got away with the company's Rp 137 million payroll.

Makmur was also involved in a jewelry store robbery in Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta, last June where Rp 10 million and 240 grams of gold were stolen.

"These two gangs are very professional, they use vans and motorcycles, and always plan every detail prior to their operation. They never hesitate to hurt their victims with machetes or resort to violence by using guns," Aritonang said. (04)