Police identify cab used in robbery of Korean

Abdul Khalik The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

After questioning several witnesses, the Jakarta Police said on Tuesday that they had identified the color and logo of the cab used in the robbery of South Korean national Nam Ho In, 40, on Saturday.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. I Ketut Untung Yoga Ana said that both the victim and witnesses living around the house rented by the robbers had given the same color and logo.

"We can't reveal the taxi operator as we must gather sufficient evidence first. However, we are sure that the taxi's color is blue. We are now verifying the facts with the operators," he said.

The taxis of at least five companies are blue.

Nam, an employee of Asiana Airlines, was found early Saturday lying in bushes in Kampung Curug, Depok, West Java, by some passersby.

He was taken to the Bhakti Yudha hospital in Depok suffering from a broken leg and severe head injuries. He was later transferred to the MMC hospital in South Jakarta and then the Cempaka Putih hospital in East Jakarta for further treatment.

Ketut said the victim confirmed that the three men, including the driver, had assaulted and robbed him on his way from a discotheque in Blok M to his apartment in Tangerang on Friday evening.

Nam said that the robbers had taken him to a rented house not far from the place where he had been found.

"The robbers held him there for several hours and continuously assaulted him before dumping him in the bushes nearby. Unfortunately, the owner of the rented house didn't get the robbers' identity cards or names," Ketut said.

He said that the robbers made off with Rp 9.5 million plus Nam's cellular phone and watch.

This is the 15th robbery incident this year, with the police solving only one case so far.

"We have deployed a special team comprising 90 detectives to investigate the unsolved cases. We hope that by deploying more police personnel, we can get to the bottom of these them," Ketut said.