Police hunt for two over vicious mugging

JAKARTA (JP): Kebayoran Lama Police detectives in South Jakarta are searching for two men in connection to a robbery and attack on a police investigator's wife on Monday morning in front of the Ministry of Defense housing complex in Cidodol Baru subdistrict.

Kebayoran Lama Police chief of detectives First Lt. Ayep Wahyu Gunawan identified the victim as Titiek Dwi Putranti Handayani, 48, the wife of National Police chief of vice control subdivision Col. Asikin Husain.

Titiek, whose arms were slashed with a machete, underwent an operation and is receiving further treatment at Medika Permata Hijau Hospital, formerly Medika Ananda Hospital.

"She had withdrawn Rp 10 million (US$1,335) from the Bank of Central Asia (BCA) and boarded an angkot (public minivan). She went to her parent's residence at the Ministry of Defense housing complex. She was robbed and slashed with a machete when she got out of the angkot," Ayep told reporters.

"It is incomprehensible how a police officer's wife would commit the same mistake as other city residents. We have urged residents several times to ask for the help of at least one police officer when they take out a large sum of money."

Ayep said police were still searching for two men who approached Titiek on a black motorcycle.

When asked if there was a possibility that the attack was politically motivated, he said it was too early to say.

"Let's just get these two suspects first," Ayep said.

Col. Asikin was one of the police detectives in charge of the investigation into the violence that followed the forcible takeover of the Indonesian Democratic Party (PDI) headquarters on July 27, 1996.

"In any case, I urge all city residents not to carry a lot of money, unless they have some sort of protection," Ayep said.

Residents living close to the Ministry of Defense housing complex said the victim had gotten off of the C 09 angkot, which plies the Kebayoran Lama-Tanah Abang route in front of the complex.

"After she got out of the angkot, a black motorcycle carrying two men immediately approached her. One man got off and struck the victim's arms with a machete," said Pardjo, a staff member at PT Reza Prima Media printing company, which is located next to the complex.

The bag the victim was carrying fell on the road and the package containing the money fell out of the bag, Pardjo said.

The suspects quickly snatched the brown paper package, but dismissed a plastic package, which the victim grabbed from her bag, even while she was screaming in pain.

The brown envelope contained Rp 9 million, while the plastic one contained the remaining Rp 1 million.

The woman, who lives with her husband on Jl. Asirod Raya in Kebayoran Lama, had withdrawn the money from the Kebayoran Lama branch of BCA, which is about one kilometer away from where she was robbed.

Col. Saleh Saaf of the National Police Information Department said on Monday that the amount of money stolen was Rp 25 million, not Rp 9 million.

"The National Police officers were scared to leak the amount to the media. But then I told them that since this was an ordinary crime, there was no reason to worry about it," Saleh told The Jakarta Post.

"Titiek had withdrawn the money to pay for new computer components she had purchased for her children."

Titiek's father Supardi, 76, a retired military officer who lives with wife Suprapti, 74, at the housing complex, said his daughter was always "too brave".

"Wherever she goes, she goes alone and usually takes the public minivan. We have told her so many times to be careful. I would have given her my car and sent a member of my staff to accompany her at the bank while she made the withdrawal. She does not listen," Supardi said.

He added that Suprapti, who runs Peni Catering from their residence, was currently in shock.

"She was shocked over what happened to our daughter. We never expected this to happen to her," Supardi said. (ylt)