Police in Medan, North Sumatra, have arrested two people in
Police in Medan, North Sumatra, have arrested two people in Bukit Sentul housing complex for swindling people with claims that were able to multiply their U.S. dollar bills by spiritual means.
Police Intelligence chief Cmr. Edi S. Tambunan said here on Friday that Tolvana, 60, from Mali, and Usman, 45, from Jakarta, were arrested last Saturday.
One of the victims, a businessman from Jakarta, said the suspects asked him to give them US$84,000, which was promised to be increased to US$99 million, Edi said. The victim only had US$71,000, which the suspects accepted, he said.
The suspects showed the victim a chest containing a pile of dollar banknotes. As only a candle was lit in the room, it gave the illusion that there was a lot of money, but in actual fact only $140, which was placed on top, was real and the rest of the bills were fake, Edi said.
Two snakes were beside the chest, and when SR tried to take a closer look, the snakes reared up at him.
Trafficking victims sent home
Sixteen of 17 victims of forced prostitution returned to their respective hometowns in Salatiga, Central Java, late on Thursday after they received some transportation money from a number of members of the House of Representatives, an officer at the Penjaringan Police subprecinct in North Jakarta said.
The legislators visited the young women, who were staying at the police station, and asked them about their plans. The girls said they wanted to go home but did not have any money, according to police officer Supardi.
"They gave them envelopes, so we don't know the amount given to each girl," the officer remarked.
"We then took the girls to the bus terminal and waited for their buses to depart," Supardi said, adding they were destined for, among other places, Pekalongan in Central Java, Jember in East Java and Lampung. (emf)
New bus routes scheduled
Thirty-five bus routes using the Takengon terminal in South Aceh will be rerouted starting Monday in an effort to alleviate the traffic on Jl. Trunojoyo.
Arfan, the head of Blok M bus terminal, said on Friday that the changes would be made to avoid the heavy traffic congestion on the street outside the terminal, which is mostly caused by the long line of buses waiting for passengers.
He said buses heading to the Ciledug area in South Jakarta would no longer use Jl. Trunojoyo when they left the terminal, but would instead turn right onto Jl. Iskandarsyah and then turn on Jl. Melawai, Jl. Panglima Polim and Jl. Bulungan before resuming the former route along Jl. Kyai Maja.
Most bus lanes will also change as a result of the altered route.