Police arrest five men for train derailment attempt
Police arrest five men for train derailment attempt
PURWOKERTO, Central Java (JP): Five people, including three
teenagers, were arrested on Friday for an attempt to derail a
business-class passenger train plying an intercity route, an
official has said.
The state railway company's Purwokerto office spokesman,
Supriadi, told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday that the five
were arrested in nearby Kebumen hours after failing to obstruct
the Tirtonadi business train plying the Pasar Senen, Jakarta-
Surakarta, Central Java, route.
Local police and officers of the railway company (PT KAI) in
Kebumen arrested Mulyono, 17, Deni, 16, Iwan, 17, Yatno, 20 and
Amin, 25, after the five allegedly put two steel bars across
railway tracks at Bulus Pesantren village, not far from the
Kebumen station.
Police said robbery was their motive.
An eyewitness said that he heard a deafening sound when the
Tirtonadi entered the village. "It was the sound of something
being crushed by the train," said Sigit Purwanto, a local.
The train, with 10 cars and about 1,000 passengers, shuddered
once after crushing the bars. The train could continue on its
way, and all passengers were safe.
Sigit reported what he heard to the Kebumen railway company
officials.
The officials found two steel bars, each 1.5 meter long, on
the tracks and a pair of sandals, Supriadi said. "One of the
officials said that he believed the sandals belonged to a
teenager who had been frequenting the station for a long time."
Mulyono, the owner of the sandals, admitted to, with his
friends, having put the steel bars on the tracks. The other four
were arrested following a tip off from Mulyono.
The five suspects told the police that their motive was merely
money, meaning that they wanted to rob the passengers should the
Tirtonadi be derailed, Supriadi said.
"But police are investigating if the plan to derail the
Tirtonadi has any connections with a spate of recent train
accidents," he said.
He said that an official report had been sent to Minister of
Communications Agum Gumelar.
Agum was very angry upon receiving the report on the plan to
derail the train in Kebumen. "It is barbaric. It is an
uncivilized act," he said on Friday before the five suspects were
arrested.
The suspects are being detained at Kebumen police station for
further questioning. Two of them were reportedly jailed for
looting shops during riots in Kebumen in 1997. (45/asa/sur)