Police foil bank robbery in Tangerang

Police foil bank robbery in Tangerang

TANGERANG (JP): Police, with the help of hundreds of local
residents, nabbed three of four suspected bank burglars in
Tangerang early yesterday morning.

The men, who sustained severe wounds inflicted by the angry
mob, are now being treated at Kramat Jati police hospital in East
Jakarta, head of the Crime Investigation Unit of the Tangerang
police precinct, First Lt. Guntur Setyanto, told reporters here.

According to Guntur, the four-member gang was attempting to
break into the privately-owned Panin Bank office on Jl. Merdeka
Raya, Serang, via the back door at around 1 a.m. when a bank
security guard, Tawa Ahmad, saw them from a window.

The security guard then immediately rushed outside and asked
for help from two local residents.

Aware that their activities had been detected, two members of
the gang suddenly lunged at Tawa with knives and iron sticks.
Instead of coming to Tawa's rescue the two residents ran away.
Tawa suffered serious stab wounds on his head and hand.

A police patrolman happened to be passing by as the man ran
out of the bank area asking for help.

"After chasing them for some three hours, we, together with
hundreds of local residents managed to nab them in a swampy area,
three kilometers away from the bank," Guntur said.

The police said that neither the suspects nor Tawa had as yet
been questioned. (bsr)