Police hunt for four robbers involved in fatal shooting

JAKARTA (JP): Armed robberies are becoming increasingly brutal as demonstrated on Wednesday when four men snatched Rp 50 million (US$5,050) in broad daylight from a car, shooting two people in the process.

The crime came after two students were attacked with sickles and machetes in a robbery in front of the Taman Mini Indonesia Indah recreational park in East Jakarta, at 11 p.m. on Tuesday night.

Wednesday's robbery took place at the junction close to the Wisata International Hotel and Sogo department store in Central Jakarta.

The two victims, both male, are in critical condition in the emergency unit of the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital, also in Central Jakarta.

Three women, who were also in the car when the robbery took place, were left unharmed, witnesses said.

Central Jakarta police detectives chief Adj. Comr. Yoyol identified the victims as Aminuddin, the driver of the silver Gallant sedan who was shot in both thighs and from whom the cash was snatched, and Suryani, a bystander who was shot in the chest.

Suryani was gunned down for witnessing the robbery and shouting for help, according to Yoyol.

Aminuddin and the other passengers in the car, Yoyol said, were just returning from Bank Mandiri on Jl. M.H. Thamrin, where they had withdrawn the cash, and were heading for their office in Pondok Cabe, South Jakarta when the robbery took place.

"The car was hemmed in by two motorcycles. Four gun-totting men got off the motorcycles and started firing. All four men had firearms," Yoyol said.

The officer said the robbers knew exactly where the money was kept, which was under one of the car's seats.

"The robbers took the money bag hidden under one of the sedan's seats, meaning that they must have followed the driver from Bank Mandiri," Yoyol said.

A witness told The Jakarta Post that the robbers first knocked on the car window, asking for the money. But Aminuddin tried to accelerate as the traffic light was green, before the robbers shot him through the window at point blank range.

Other bystanders told the police that one of the motorcycles ridden by the robbers was a Yamaha RX-King, Yoyol said.

Separately, secretary to the City Police Information Department Comr. Alex Mandalika said on Wednesday the two students robbed on Tuesday night, currently in critical condition, are receiving treatment in the Bukit Cawang hospital in East Jakarta.

He identified the victims as Veteran Anugerah Rahman, 20, and Risnawan, 24, both university students from Bandung, West Java, who were on holiday here.

"They were robbed of hundreds of thousands of rupiah," Alex told reporters at city police.

Veteran was hit on the face and left arm while Risnawan was hit on his back, his left arm and both his palms.

Alex also said a resident of Legoso village of Pisangan in Ciputat, South Jakarta, identified as Jefri, was slashed on his entire body, including his face, head and chest by sickles in front of the Bintaro-Serpong toll gate, by two men whom he had chased for stealing a chicken from his residence.

"At about 11:30 p.m. on Tuesday, two robbers entered Jefri's residence and stole the chicken, but Jefri found out, and chased them on his motorcycle," Alex said.

"Upon reaching the front toll gate, the two robbers who were being chased suddenly stopped, turned around, got down from their motorcycle, and attacked Jefri with machetes. Jefri was hit on the head, face and chest. He is currently receiving treatment in the Fatmawati Hospital in South Jakarta." (ylt/afs)