Passengers complain of surge in train crimes

Passengers complain of surge in train crimes

Bambang Nurbianto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Commuter train passengers have complained about the high
frequency of robberies on trains, demanding the management of the
railway stations, PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI), take serious
action against such crimes.

A group of robbers consisting of three to seven people armed
with sharp weapons like knives, machetes and ice picks often robs
people on the commuter trains, particularly when only few other
passengers are present.

"I was robbed last month by three people armed with a wooden
stick, machete and an ice pick. They stole Rp 60,000 in cash but
returned my wallet," Sarbini, a vendor on the commuter train,
told The Jakarta Post on Monday.

According to Sarbini, who sells items on the train running
from Kota station, West Jakarta, to Rangkasbitung, Banten, said a
number of his friends had told him that they had also had similar
experiences.

Financial losses experienced by the victims start from only
thousands and run to millions of rupiah. Maya Darmaya, 32, a
resident of Indramayu, West Java, reported that she lost Rp 80
million in cash when seven robbers threatened her with sharp
weapons on June 25.

Maya reported the incident to Pademangan subprecinct police
station in North Jakarta. Two other reports to the police station
came from Sumarno, who lost Rp 2.5 million, and Betti Heryani,
who lost Rp 250,000 on June 30. All three incidents occurred at
Kampung Bandan station, North Jakarta.

Head of Kota station's security unit Djinandir admitted that
his forces, with assistance from the police from Taman Sari, West
Jakarta, and Pademangan subprecinct, had not been able to resolve
the problems, saying his security officers had not yet arrested
robbers on the trains.

Kota station comes under the jurisdiction of Taman Sari
subprecinct police while Kampung Bandan station falls under
Pademangan sub-precinct.

Like Sarbini, many other victims of robbery were reluctant to
report such incidents to train security or police officers as
they thought it would not help them to regain their money.

"Why should I report such a robbery to the police as I know
that my money will not be returned and the police will not try to
arrest the robbers," said Sarbini, who sells compact disks to
train passengers.

Sarbini complained that although such criminal activity had
long occurred on commuter trains, the train management or the
police had made no serious effort to stop it.

But Djinandir denied that train security had done nothing to
try to put an end to the crime on trains, although he did admit
that their efforts had failed to prevent the crime from
recurring.

According to him, he had set up a 10-member special team to
deal with crimes at Kampung Bandan station. The team was assisted
by seven police officers from Pademangan, and four from Taman
Sari police subprecinct.

"I don't know why our plainclothes security officers did not
apprehend any thieves during the operation. Maybe the latter have
spies familiar with the faces of my officers," Djinandir added.

A similar statement was made by head of Pademangan police
subprecinct Comr. Wahyu Widodo, saying his officers had so far
only been able to shoot dead one robber early this month. No one
was arrested although usually the thieves worked as a group.