Police operations claimed 23 lives last month

Emmy Fitri and Damar Harsanto The Jakarta Post Jakarta

JAKARTA: Twenty three criminals were shot dead in the Greater Jakarta area by the city police during a police operation codenamed Brantas Jaya last month, an officer announced on Tuesday.

City police spokesman Sr. Comr. Anton Bachrul Alam told reporters that the police were forced to shoot the criminals dead because they had resisted arrest after being caught red-handed.

The police operation was aimed at cracking down on crimes committed on public transport.

Anton said that a total of 123 sharp weapons had been confiscated during the month, along with 52 firearms, 44 pistols, eight rifles and 394 bullets.

Police also arrested 154 suspects.

"As crime evidence, we have amassed 22 motorcycles, 10 cars, Rp 8,498,000 in cash, four cellular phones, one computer and four wallets," Anton said.

The operation was launched last month along with two other raids, codenamed Sapu Jagat targeting the illegal possession of weapons and Zebra Jaya against traffic violations.

On Tuesday, police also revealed the results of the two other operations.

City police managed to confiscate a total of 296 weapons of various types and 7,922 bullets during the Sapu Jagat operation.

"The raids are effective if we look at the total seizure we made. We are considering continuing this operation differently, perhaps integrating it more with other operations," Anton said.

The Sapu Jagat operation was carried out mostly on the streets and also at private homes after police received information on the ownership of illegal weapons.

In the raid, besides firearms, police also searched for explosives. During the one-month-long operation, three live grenades were also impounded. Other seizures included 25 gas guns and 28 air rifles.

Police also named 74 suspects, whose cases are still being processed.

Meanwhile, in the Zebra Jaya operation to uphold traffic regulations a total of 24,977 cases were being processed by the police, mostly concerning minor violations of the now standardized vehicle number plates.