Police perplexed over mob attack on three men in Cawang

JAKARTA (JP): East Jakarta police detectives are in the dark about the eight suspects who mobbed a man to death and caused severe injuries to two others for unclear reasons in front of a gas station on Jl. Dewi Sartika in Cawang on Saturday midnight, said the East Jakarta police chief.

Col. Hidayat identified the dead victim as Zainul Arifin, 21, and the two other victims as Suratmin, 29, and Erwin, 24.

"We are baffled as to why this happened. We are still investigating the case," Hidayat told reporters on Sunday.

"Zainul was stabbed in his right intestine and was also hit in the lungs. Suratmin suffered head wounds while Erwin, stab wounds to his back."

"Nothing was lost. The victims' wallets were untouched. This could be a revenge thing, but that's just a guess."

In an unrelated development, Central Jakarta police detectives are clueless about robbery suspects who took Rp 35 million (US$4,700) in cash from the Islamic hospital cooperative in Cempaka Putih at about 10:45 a.m. on Saturday morning, said a city police spokesman.

Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said the suspects entered the hospital's cooperative by breaking through the roof, according to the report made at the Cempaka Putih police subprecinct by Kurnia, a staffer at the hospital.

"The Cempaka Putih police is handling the case. It is backed by the Central Jakarta police detectives," Zainuri said.

As reported earlier, Bogor Regional Police arrested three men suspected of stealing a truck loaded with 320 sacks of cement and were still looking for two other suspects.

The three, identified as Rahman, Lumban Raja and Agus, were nabbed in separate arrests on Wednesday and Thursday.

Bogor regional police chief Col. Edi Darnadi said on Thursday that the two other men, Rohmin and Joni Pandjaitan, were still at large.

The robbery occurred early last month. After Rahman, Lumban Raja and Joni transferred the sacks of cement to another truck, they drove to Ngawi, East Java. The three then drove to Madiun, East Java, where they sold the truck to Rohmin and Agus.

Rohmin and Agus dismantled the truck into three units -- the cab, the chassis and the engine.

"They (Rohmin and Agus) kept the cab and the chassis in Madiun, selling the engine in Jakarta," Edi said, adding that the truck parts were seized as evidence. The cement was sold to Karya Abadi and Jaya Abadi material shops in Cirendeu, Bogor. (ylt)