Police arrest suspects in pawnshop theft

Police arrest suspects in pawnshop theft

JAKARTA (JP): Detectives from the South Jakarta Police
arrested three of the seven suspects in the robbery of the branch
office of state-owned Perum Pegadaian pawnshop, in which the
thieves made off with Rp 8 billion (US$1 million) in jewelry.

Chief of detectives Capt. Rycko Amelza Daniel said on Saturday
the police also seized from two of the detained suspects some 4.5
kilograms of stolen gold and diamonds.

He identified the three detained suspects as Rismad, Usup
Syarifuddin and Jaka.

The three were apprehended in separate raids early last week,
the officer said.

"First we retrieved 2.5 kilograms of gold and diamonds from
Rismad's home in Parung, Bogor," Rycko told The Jakarta Post.

Rismadi then led police to Usup in Kebayoran Lama, South
Jakarta, the officer said.

After being handcuffed, Usup took officers to his remaining
share of the robbery, two kilograms of gold and diamonds he had
hidden under his house in Garut, West Java, the officer said.

"Usup then told us about Jaka, who lives in Parung. Jaka says
that he left his share of the robbery somewhere in a stolen car,
which is already gone. Of course, he is lying. We hope that we'll
retrieve the stolen goods soon," he said.

Rycko said Rismad was the one who used the electric drill to
open the steel gates of the pawnshop.

"We are still after the other four gang members, including the
pawnshop's security guard, Dadi Mulyadi, who cooperated with the
robbers," he said.

The pawnshop's branch office on Jl. Wijaya in South Jakarta
was robbed on Sept. 12.

The company's director of operations, Dedi Kusdedi, said the
stolen jewelry, comprising mostly gold and diamonds, was pawned
by over 3,000 customers.

Soon after the theft, the South Jakarta Police named Dadi as
the main suspect in the case. When police went to his residence,
they discovered that Dadi and his wife and children had vacated
their house. Dadi's whereabouts remain unknown.

"We questioned his elder brother, Makmur, who we believed
loaned Dadi his motorcycle for the robbery. But Makmur insisted
that he had not seen Dadi for two weeks (before the robbery),"
Rycko said. (ylt)