Police hunt for two over vicious mugging

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"She had withdrawn Rp 10 million (US$1,335) from the Bank of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)