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)