Police kill three men in street robberies

JAKARTA (JP): Three men attempting street robberies at two separate incidents were shot dead by police, City Police detective chief for general crime Adj. Sr. Comr. Titto Karnavian said on Tuesday.

In the first incident three men armed with machetes tried to rob a bus in Bekasi on Monday evening.

However one of the bus passengers was a policeman, Adj. Comr. Maskarif, who foiled the robbery.

Titto said Maskarif was stabbed by the robbers in his left leg before they made their escape.

Based on gathered evidence, police managed to identify the robbers and arrest two of them, Doyok, 25, and Ali, 28, at a house in Petogogan, Rawa Rante district, East Jakarta.

"The suspects admitted to frequently robbing buses plying the Pulogadung-Bekasi route," Titto told reporters adding that three knives, a ring, a necklace, a waist bag and Rp 425,000 in cash were seized from the suspects.

He said the suspects usually boarded buses at Pulogadung terminal and hijacked them when they reached a quiet location.

After questioning, the two suspects took police to the residence of the third suspect, Lubis Jaya, 18, in East Jakarta at about 8 p.m.

However on the way the two tried to escape.

Titto said, police warning shots were not heeded to by the suspects so the police shot them both in the back.

They died on the way to Kramat Jati police hospital while the third suspect remains in police custody.

In the other incident, Titto said an unidentified man believed to be a member of the "Red Axe" gang was shot dead by police near Senen railway station in Central Jakarta on Monday.

In a routine patrol, police officers saw four men stealing a sideview mirror of a BMW sedan.

The officers then chased the men and fired three warning shots.

As the men continued to run, the police again fired another shot and hit one of them in the back.

"The suspect was a member of the 'Red Axe' gang which often rob people on the streets," Titto claimed adding that the gang was notorious for carrying out robberies during traffic jams.

He added that the gang often broke cars windows in such situations and stole everything from sideview mirrors to cellular phones placed on the dashboard. (ylt/jun)