Police arrest Medan gang member

JAKARTA: The Jakarta Police revealed on Wednesday that they had apprehended Sofyan Batubara, 28, allegedly a member of a notorious gang of burglars, widely known as the Medan gang.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Tomsi Tohir, a detective, said the suspect was arrested on Feb. 22 in front of Citraland mall in Cengkareng, West Jakarta.

According to Tomsi, the gang has five members who all hail from the North Sumatra capital of Medan. Three of them have been detained since 2004. "We're still looking for the last gang member," Tomsi said.

The gang's first burglary was of a house on Jl. Bangka, Mampang Prapatan in South Jakarta in 2002. The robbers pretended to be seeking the residential address of the house's security guard.

They made away with one handycam, three cell phones, one notebook computer, one digital camera, four designer wristwatches, gold jewelry and a total of Rp 24 million in rupiah and dollar bills.

They also took the gagged security guard in their van and pushed him out of the vehicle while passing a toll road in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta. The robbers gave him Rp 20,000 to get home. -- JP