Police perplexed by private taxi robberies

Police perplexed by private taxi robberies

JAKARTA (JP): Tangerang Police officials have been left
baffled by two armed robberies in a private van taxi, which
occurred on Monday and Tuesday, targeting female passengers of
domestic flights arriving at Soekarno-Hatta International
Airport.

"We are investigating both cases. We have tightened security
in the airport compound and will be assigning undercover police
officers for a specific operation ... to apprehend these
robbers," Tangerang Police deputy chief Comr. Ricky Wakanno said
on Wednesday.

"We have been quite shocked by the incidents. We are
questioning coordinators of taksi gelap (private taxis) in the
Soekarno-Hatta airport compound," he added.

In Tuesday's incident, Arianti Simbolon, 38, a mother of
three, arrived in Jakarta on a Garuda Airlines flight from
Polonia Airport in Medan, North Sumatra.

"She was to stay in Jakarta for a day before leaving for
Flores, East Nusa Tenggara, on Wednesday, where her sister's
wedding reception was being held," a city police detective, who
requested anonymity, said on Wednesday.

The detective said that, upon reaching Soekarno-Hatta Airport,
four men approached Arianti and started to offer her temporary
accommodation services. They did it with such persistence that
she was turned off. She told them that she would look for her own
lodgings.

As she was walking off, the detective said, one of the four
men chased her and held a gun to her back.

"Arianti was shocked and terrified, and obediently got into
the Kijang van waiting for her. Once inside the van, the robbers
stole her gold jewelry, a Rolex watch and Rp 6 million in cash,"
the detective said.

"An hour later, the men threw her out at the Semanggi
cloverleaf, where they handed her a Rp 10,000 banknote, and
warned her not to look back at their faces, before speeding off."

Under the same circumstances on Monday, Lisa Mamonto, 33, from
Pangkal Pinang in South Sumatra, was on an overnight stopover in
Jakarta before traveling to Manado, North Sulawesi, the next day.

Lisa said that at the airport she was offered transportation
by a man operating a private taxi.

Commonly referred to here as taxi gelap, private sedans and
vans operating as taxis without a meter can be found throughout
the capital.

After agreeing on a price of Rp 55,000 to be taken to Cikini
in Central Jakarta, where she would find accommodation for the
night, Lisa got into the Kijang van with the man.

But as they were leaving the airport, two men suddenly emerged
from the rear of the van and threatened her with a sickle.

Lisa told the Post on Monday that she handed over the Rp 4
million she was carrying, three bags she was traveling with and
her handbag, which contained her ID card and other important
possessions.

"They just drove me around, before throwing me out in the
Semanggi cloverleaf area. The three men warned me not to look at
their faces, so I didn't. I then walked to the nearby city police
headquarters," she said.

When asked where she would stay for the days to come, she said
that since she had absolutely no money, she would stay in "any
mosque in the area" and then write a letter to her husband.

"I don't have a telephone at home ... I have to write to him
to fetch me," she said. (ylt)