Police perplexed over big robbery

JAKARTA (JP): North Jakarta police were confused yesterday when a man, claiming to have been robbed of US$70,000 and Rp 125 million by two armed men, refused to reveal the complete story and gave conflicting statements.

"This is my own money. It is my right whether I report the incident to the police or not," North Jakarta Police chief Maj. Heru quoted the man, identified as Yoseph T., 41, as saying.

Speaking with The Jakarta Post yesterday, Heru said that Yoseph, a foreign exchange trader, earlier told the police that while carrying the cash in his Vitara car along Jl. Danau Sunter Selatan on Friday, he was mugged by two men.

The alleged robbery came to the attention of police due to a call from a receptionist at the Griya Medika Sunter hospital, where Yoseph was being treated, Heru said.

Police then arrived and took details from the victim, who told police that he had just taken the Rp 125 million from the Kelapa Gadding BCA Bank branch when two men, riding an RX King motorcycle, hit the left side of his car and forced Yoseph to stop.

One man pretended to be injured and asked to be taken to the hospital, Heru quoted Yoseph as saying.

"But then the two men mugged Yoseph, who was driving alone and sitting on all the money, and slashed his stomach with a knife. The two escaped with the money after firing a shot in the air," Yoseph told the police.

However, Yoseph refused to officially file the robbery with the police so that the police could carry out their investigations, Heru said.

While examining the crime scene, detectives also found some conflicting facts about Yoseph's story.

"We learned that the street was packed with various activities around the time of the incident described by Yoseph," Heru said.

"The robbery was said to occur in front of the Ades mineral water company. But we found nobody that had heard anything or saw anything around the time of the incident," he said.

Yoseph also rebutted his early remarks, saying that he never stopped at any BCA branch but had brought the money from his home, Heru said.

Heru said that in an attempt to capture the suspects, his men would keep investigating the robbery to find out the truth of Yoseph's story.

"So, let's keep an open mind about this," he said. (edt)