Police search for Medan bank robbers

Police search for Medan bank robbers

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan, North Sumatra

Police here have questioned 12 witnesses and sketched the
faces of the perpetrators in the second day of the hunt for the
bank robbers of Tuesday's heist which killed two bank employees
in Medan.

"We've formed a team and are still investigating the case and
are hunting the four perpetrators of the robbery," said North
Sumatra Police spokesman Comr. Sr. Amrin Karim on Wednesday.

Two bank employees died, not three as initially reported by
The Jakarta Post on Tuesday. The third victim, Joni Purba, was
shot in the head but survived and is being treated at Gleneagles
hospital in Medan.

The heist occurred outside a branch of Bank Lippo when it was
taking in its cash for the day's transactions.

Two of the robbers shot dead the bank's security guard,
Syamsuddin Nasution, 44, and a driver Eddi Ridwansyah, 43.

They escaped with Rp 133 million (about US$13,000).

Amrin said that based on witnesses' descriptions, the police
were able to draw sketches of the four robbers.

The drawings which were still rough would not be released to
the public just yet, he added.

He said that a police team would soon be dispatched from Medan
to hunt the perpetrators in neighboring regencies like Labuhan
Batu and Langkat.

Bank robberies are common in major cities, targeting mostly
customers and employees who withdraw or deposit money.

In several cities, police have offered escorts to deter
robbers, and Tuesday's incident occurred without the customary
police escort.

Medan Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Bagus Kurniawan blamed the
Bank Lippo management for not providing the security guards with
weapons.

He suggested that security guards should be given guns to
defend themselves. He said that his office would quickly
investigate the case.