One killed and three arrested for toll road robbery

JAKARTA (JP): City police officers patrolling the Jakarta- Cikampek toll road late on Monday night shot to death one member of a five-member gang of street bandits who were caught red- handed extorting money from taxi passengers.

Three of the criminals managed to escape, while the last member was arrested after he attempted to flee, city police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang told reporters on Tuesday.

According to the officer, the five armed criminals were extorting money from a Srimedali taxi driver and his two passengers on the toll road when the police detectives came upon the scene in their patrol car.

"All of the bandits brandished their weapons toward the officers and ignored the warning shots fired by the officers," Aritonang said.

The criminals then attempted to flee in various directions along the dimly lit toll road, he said.

"Two of them were caught while the other three fled," Aritonang said.

One of the two arrested suspects, Kuswanto, 24, was shot once in the forehead when he attempted to attack the officers with a sickle, the officer added.

The other arrested suspect, Slamet Riyadi, 20, was taken to the Makasar police station in East Jakarta.

During preliminary questioning, Slamet professed that his group had extorted money from three other vehicles, a gas truck, a sedan and another taxi, before the police caught them.

Aritonang quoted the suspect as saying that they stopped the speeding vehicles by forcing the motorists to slow down by walking in front the vehicles on the toll road.

They then extorted Rp 500,000 from the driver of the gas truck, Rp 200,000 from the driver of the sedan and Rp 50,000 from the people in the taxi, the officer said.

According to Slamet, the gang waited on the side of the toll road searching for victims, beginning at around 10 p.m.

It's still unknown how long the gang had been operating in the area.

"We so far have only identified the three criminals who escaped," Aritonang said.

The officer said police would not hesitate to shoot armed criminals if they placed the lives of police officers in danger.

Marine's version

Late last night, Aritonang's version that the bandits were arrested by the police was denied by the Marine Corps, which said that the extortion was first spotted by another motorist and the person who opened fire was a Marine soldier.

Corps spokesman Maj. Ibrahim Sadong said a number of marines were called by the patrolling police officers who received the tip-off for back up.

"When our personnel arrived at the scene, one of them shouted 'stop' at the bandits while others fired warning shots in the air," Ibrahim said.

One of the marines, Private Suwito, had to shot one of the crooks as the latter threatened Suwito with a sword, he said.

The death of Kuswanto brought the number of alleged criminals shot to death by police to 12 since the crackdown on street crime was launched late last month.

Less than 24 hours before the shooting of Kuswanto, the police also shot to death three men who allegedly committed street crimes in separate incidents around the capital.

Besides the 12 alleged criminals shot to death, the police have so far arrested at least 112 suspected street criminals since the crackdown began on Nov. 23.

The fatal shootings of the armed criminals have received support from an activist, a prosecutor and a military officer.

Ori Rahman of the Commission for Missing Persons and Victims of Violence said that the strict measures could give a feeling of security to Jakartans who are now living in fear due to the escalating number of street crimes.

Ori, himself a lawyer, urged the police to continue their stern actions as long as the shootings met standard legal procedures.

"The officers should of course shoot the criminals to death if their lives are in danger," he said.

Prosecutor M. Roskanedi of the Central Jakarta Prosecutor's office said such actions were badly needed as shock therapy to stop street crimes.

"Besides, the shootings will also lessen my job since I will no longer need to bring more criminals to court," he said.

Roskanedi even suggested motorists run over suspected attackers.

"It's self-defense. The courts will free motorists who kill alleged robbers," he said.

Jakarta Military spokesman Lt. Col. DJ Nachrowi said the military would continue to give its full support to the police applying stern measures against criminals and rioters.

"We support the police effort to take firm action against law violators such as looters, thieves and robbers. If you don't want to be shot dead, you'd better stop your unlawful deeds," he said. (emf/jun/ivy)