Police gun down wanted criminals on toll road

Police gun down wanted criminals on toll road

BEKASI (JP): Detectives shot and killed three of the city's
most wanted criminals during an early morning blockade on
Cikampek toll road yesterday.

Bekasi Police chief Lt. Col. Adjie Rustam said yesterday
evening that the suspects were shot in the head and back after
one of the men attempted to reach for his gun.

"After tracking their hideouts for two consecutive days, a
team of detectives were assigned to pursue the men because,
according to a tip-off, they were on their way to Medan (North
Sumatra)," Adjie said.

Detectives in two unmarked cars located the suspects -- who
were considered armed and dangerous -- at 4 a.m. yesterday on km
31 of the Cikampek toll road near Cibitung, Bekasi.

The suspects and an unidentified fourth man were in a Kijang
minivan heading toward Jakarta.

"The detectives blocked the car's path and, with guns drawn,
ordered the four men to step away from the car," Adjie said.

But one of them started to draw a revolver strapped to his
waist and the detectives retaliated with gunfire, he said. Three
of the men were killed instantly.

"We don't want to look foolish," Adjie said.

"The other one, who is still at large, apparently found a way
to escape."

The three men were identified as Maringan Nainggolan, 27, Andi
Lubis, 28, and Galingging, 30.

Adjie said the men had all served time in jail and their
criminal records included robbery and drug dealing offenses.

"They often killed their victims."

He blamed the threesome for the robbery and murder of
Sutadiseno, the head of the cooperatives unit in Rawa Panjang
village, Narogong, earlier this year.

Adjie said that yesterday's shootings were triggered by
Nainggolan -- a former low-ranking military officer discharged in
December last year -- who attempted to grab his handmade
revolver.

Police seized the gun and its five bullets, some sharp weapons
and the Kijang minivan, which had been stolen, as evidence.

The bodies were sent to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in
Central Jakarta for a postmortem examination.

According to a reliable source at the hospital's morgue, the
men had each been shot at least four times. They had head, back
and feet wounds.

"I could say that they were shot at point-blank range," he
said. (04/cst)