Police arest members of autotheft gang

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta PostJakarta

Police arrested on Tuesday and Wednesday nine members of a gang of motorcycle thieves. Five members of the group remain at large, including the gang's two fences.

"Police are calling the gang the 'Java group', after their (ethnic) origin," said the police detective in charge of the investigation, Second Insp. Edy Farkusip, on Thursday, indicating that all members of the gang were Javanese.

The arrested suspects are: Sunandar, alias Nandar, 27; Sofyan, alias Mandra, 28; Maerudin, alias Udin, 38; Pujan, alias Salimin, 26; Sikin Kadi, alias Kempleng, 37; Suhardi, alias Nton, 33; Dupi, alias Deo, 33; Feri Kamaludin, 31; and Agus Mulyadi, 20.

The suspects were arrested in Cengkareng, West Jakarta; Penjaringan, North Jakarta; and in Pandeglang, West Java.

Police are now focusing their efforts on catching the remaining gang members Jadi, Rojak, Priyo, Mino and Glemboh.

Edy said the group had been operating in the capital and West Java for over a year.

The detained suspects told police investigators that they had immediately sold the stolen motorcycles to their fences for between Rp 1.3 million (US$153) and Rp 2.6 million, far below the market price of between Rp 11 million and Rp 13 million.

The gang usually works as a team, with four of them riding Yamaha RX King motorcycles and forcing their victims to pull over. At times, they assaulted victims who defied them.

Their targets were those riding brand-new motorcycles along the quiet streets of early morning.

Two of their victims were reporters from private television station Metro TV and state-owned radio station RRI. They were on their way home from work when the gang took their motorcycles by force.

Edy said the police were very concerned about auto theft cases, as they had been on the rise.

As of June 2003, there have been 718 armed robbery cases, compared to 2,546 cases total in 2002, and 2,647 in 2001.

The increase in the number of cases being reported to the police helped the officers to study the gang's method, which was crucial in their capture.

In addition to the "Java group", police are also tracking another motorcycle-theft gang they call the "Palembang group", as its members allegedly come from the South Sumatra capital of Palembang.

"None of the (Palembang) gang members have been arrested. They usually use guns to threaten their victims," said Edy.