Police arrest four robbers

JAKARTA: Four men who allegedly stole items from the house of Abdul Rachman, 57, former director of the Ceramics Museum in Jakarta, were arrested last week, police announced on Monday.

"We rounded up them in several areas in Grogol, West Jakarta, and Bogor, West Java, last week," said Adj. Comr. Suharyanto, head of the mobile detectives division of the city police.

The suspects are Riski Sihotang, Darwin Sihotang, Bernard Makmur and Karmedi Pakpahan. Most claimed to be former bus crewmen in Senen, Central Jakarta.

"We always carry machetes when burglarizing houses. We also use a Toyota Kijang van. We rent it at Rp 300,000 (US$35.7) per day," said Darwin.

Police also seized 50 grams of jewelry, four wristwatches and Rp 2.5 million in cash.

The gang allegedly burglarized Abdul's house in Buaran Gardu village, Buaran, Serpong, Tangerang, on Aug. 2.

Article 365 of the Criminal Code, on robbery, states that the suspects could face a maximum of nine years in jail if convicted. -- JP