Police lieutenant killed by drunken Blok M hoodlums
Police lieutenant killed by drunken Blok M hoodlums
JAKARTA (JP): Two officers from Jakarta's prestgious Police
College were attacked by a group of drunken street hoodlums on
Monday, with one fatally stabbed in the abdomen.
First Leiutenant Budi Prasetyo Utomo, 29, was buried yesterday
in a military ceremony at the Tanah Kusir public cemetery in
South Jakarta.
His classmate, Capt. Arman Depari, a member of the police's
mobile regiment, has recovered from a number of severe blows to
his face.
The incident took place on the exit ramp located between the
Melawai Plaza building and the Effata church at the crowded Blok
M shopping center in South Jakarta at around 5:30 p.m. Monday.
By yesterday evening, police had arrested four of the ten
suspects and confiscated a jacket and a shirt stained with blood.
The four, identified as Reza Lawalatta, Nico, Rudi and Idris,
were arrested in separate locations a few hours after the
incident.
Rudi was nabbed while hiding among a choir group inside the
Effata church.
Police detectives have named Mario and Frengki Tulehu as two
other wanted gang members. Police believe the clothing seized at
the gangster's homebase on Jl. Karang Tengah in Ciledug belongs
to Mario.
When asked by reporters here yesterday about the motive of the
attack, City Police Chief Maj. Gen. Dibyo Widodo said: "Street
criminals everywhere are similar, always trying to demonstrate
their power, their existence."
All of the suspects are in their 20s.
National Police spokesman Brig. Gen. IK Ratta urged the
fugitives to turn themselves in immediately to a nearby police
station before having to face more serious consequences.
"We are already in possession of complete data on them," Ratta
said.
Witnesses, including vendors and security guards, contacted by
The Jakarta Post at the scene of the crime yesterday revealed
that Budi and Arman were driving in a Grand Civic sedan as they
left a nearby parking lot. One of the gangsters then gestured to
a witness and said something like "hello".
"A few seconds later I saw the driver (Arman) get out of the
sedan. He had a heated argument with the drunken gangsters before
being overpowered by them," said a food vendor.
None of the security guards and visitors tried to stop the
incident, fearing involvement with the group that routinely
extorts money from them at knife point.
In the heavily one-sided battle, Budi was stabbed to death,
allegedly by Mario, in addition to suffering bruises and wounds
on his face and hands.
Police story
The police have revealed that both officers -- planning to buy
books at the nearby Gramedia bookstore -- were looking for a
place to park their car when one of the group members held his
hands up as if to help them park.
Later, one of them came close and hit the car with his hands,
ignoring Arman's request for a parking place.
When the other gang members came by, Arman could smell the
hoods reeking of alcoholic indulgence.
He then got out of the car and introduced himself as a police
captain.
"What? What's your rank? Do you want me to bring you to face
my father, heh? Don't be (so arrogant) like that?" replied one of
the suspects.
Arman asked again: "Have you people been drinking?"
"Even a barrel of alcohol wouldn't get me drunk," the suspect
retorted.
Realizing that he was cornered, Arman tried to get back into
the car when suddenly, Reza cold-cocked him in the face.
Reza's friends then joined in, attacking Budi. Arman, a police
captain, then ran away to Jl. Melawai to save himself.
A few minutes later, Arman came back to the site but saw his
friend, Budi, on the ground bleeding next to their unparked car.
According to Professor Awaluddin Djamin, a retired police
general and former national police chief, the attack against the
two officers, who are supposed models for Indonesia's next
generation of police, is a strong indication that street
criminals (locally known as preman) are flourishing in cities
like Jakarta.
"We don't want people live in fear of crime like in New York,
Miami and Rio de Janeiro," Awaluddin said during Budi's funeral
ceremony.
"Now," he said, "its high time for all members of society to
join forces against these preman groups." (bsr)