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)