Police continue search for suspect robber

JAKARTA (JP): Central Jakarta Police are still searching for a man whose accomplice was arrested last week for robbing jewelry worth Rp 18 million (US$7,500).

The robbery took place on April 3 at the Prima Gold shop in the Plaza Indonesia shopping center on Jl. M.H. Thamrin.

Central Jakarta's police chief, Lt. Col. M. Ibrahim, said Saturday that police arrested Noval, 30, and found he had used a toy gun to threaten the shop's employee and security guard.

"The suspect entered the shop and threatened to shoot the security guard and the employee if they tried to resist," Ibrahim said.

He said the suspect tried to escape after grabbing the jewelry from a drawer.

But the security guard became suspicious and followed the suspect out of the shop.

Ibrahim said that Noval threatened him saying "I'll shoot you, I'll kill you".

The security guard chased and arrested Noval because he did not fire the gun, he said.

Noval's accomplice, who was waiting outside Plaza Indonesia, escaped in a van, he said.

Ibrahim said Noval, a resident of Jl. Kali Pasir, Central Jakarta, was believed to have been involved in several robberies at other local gold shops.

Noval admitted to have robbed a gold shop in Cikini, Ibrahim said.

On Feb. 20, two armed men robbed the Ibukota gold and jewelry shop on Jl. Cikini Raya in Menteng, Central Jakarta, and made off with three gold bracelets, weighing 180 grams.

The robbery took place amid a crowd in the Cikini market in the afternoon and was alarming because police believed the robbers were holding a shop employee.

The shop was surrounded by dozens of police and soldiers but they found nothing and the employee appeared from the next building, telling them the robbers had escaped.

East Jakarta

In East Jakarta, police are also hunting for four armed men who robbed businessman Abdul Jalil of Rp 300,000, a handphone and a handycam.

The East Jakarta police chief, Lt. Col. Nanan Sukarna, said four men broke a window and entered a businessman's house on Jl. Condet Raya on Friday night.

"The robbers then went upstairs and entered a bedroom. One of the robbers pointed a gun at Abdul Jalil and the other covered him with a bed cover," Nanan said.

The other man threatened to kill Jalil's wife with a sickle and demanded money, he said.

The men grabbed the money and the goods and left in a sedan, he said. (jun)