Police identify new burglary method

JAKARTA: Police said on Monday they had identified a new modus operandi being employed by gangs of burglars following the arrest of five suspected housebreakers last week.

"The burglars pretend to be construction workers engaged on a project close to the vacant shop or house they are targeting," said the Jakarta Police's detectives chief, Sr. Comr. Mathius Salempang.

The burglars, Salempang said, would then break into the vacant premises after nightfall.

Police arrested four suspected burglars -- Kartimin, 34; Agung Laksono, 25; Pujianto, 26; and Warsidi, 39 -- last week in Muara Karang, North Jakarta.

The suspects told police investigators that they had been burgling premises using this particular modus operandi since 2001. Among their successful operations had been the theft of Rp 30 million (US$3,530) in cash from a money changer in Blok M, South Jakarta, in 2001, and of two kilograms of gold and Rp 10 million in cash from a vacant shophouse on Jl. Pangeran Jayakarta, Central Jakarta, in 2002.

Police have identified three gangs of burglars who employ this method. These are known by police detectives as the Pluit, Karanganyar and Kranji gangs.

"We are still hunting the gang members," said Salempang. -- JP