Police arrest man for two-year-old burglary

BOGOR (JP): Bogor police arrested on Saturday a man believed to be a member of a gang of thieves who stole jewelry worth an estimated Rp 18 billion from a South Jakarta pawn shop two years ago, Bogor Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Sabar Raharjo said here on Tuesday.

Sabar said that Makmur (alias Udin, Niko and Umar), 40, who escaped while being escorted by police a week after the burglary, was arrested in front of his rented house in Kampung Blok Paku Cimahpar, Central Bogor, on Saturday evening.

Four of Makmur's accomplices, Yusuf (37), Entan (30), Aat Cetiadi (29) and Resimed (38), who were apprehended soon after the burglary, are still in the custody of South Jakarta Police.

Meanwhile, two other accomplices, Dadi Mulyadi (33), the pawn shop's security guard, and Toha (50), Makmur's elder brother, are still at large.

According to Sabar, the raid on the suspect's house was made following reports from local residents, who alleged that he was a narcotics dealer.

"A resident reported that he once saw two men carrying six handguns into the house," Sabar said, adding that his men had monitored the house before the raid.

"Makmur was about to go and buy some medicine when the officers raided the house, where they found a bag containing two kilograms of gold jewelry. We also confiscated a Toyota Kijang van, two motorbikes and a BRI deposit book (recording an account balance) of Rp 200 million."

Yul Afian, an employee at the South Jakarta pawn shop, alleged that the suspect had already sold the good quality jewelry.

"The remaining two kilograms is of inferior quality, worth around Rp 50 million," he said.

The suspect had sold the goods to door-to-door jewelry traders in Cimahpar, Sabar claimed. "He has also spent some of the proceeds to buy 1.3 hectares of land in Cimahpar."

"We will hand over the suspect to the South Jakarta Police on Wednesday," Sabar said. (21/sur)