Police shoot dead alleged gold robber, arrest fifth suspect

Police shoot dead alleged gold robber, arrest fifth suspect

JAKARTA (JP): A suspect in last month's gold robbery in
Grogol, West Jakarta -- where a police sergeant was killed in a
shooting spree -- has been shot dead.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said yesterday
that another suspect in the robbery had also been arrested.

Police were forced to shoot Mukrim Adrian on Tuesday night
because he resisted arrest and tried to flee, Aritonang said.
Mukrim was shot four times in the abdomen and neck.

He said Mukrim and the arrested man, Hadi Santoso, were,
respectively, the fourth and fifth people believed to be involved
in the Grogol gold robbery.

The first two suspects, Prasodjo and Sudarto, were arrested in
East Java late last month, while the third, Iwan, was captured on
Sept. 5 in East Java.

"Police teams are now intensifying their search of Java for
the three remaining suspects," Aritonang said. "Their identities
have been revealed by the arrested suspects."

He said Mukrim and Hadi were arrested in the Senen area,
Central Jakarta, after successfully escaping from a police raid
on a house owned by their accomplice in Pasuruan, East Java, on
Sept. 5.

During the raid, Mukrim, Hadi and the three men still at large
-- identified as Pe, Bd and Ar -- were involved in a shootout,
during which Sgt. Maj. Sumarto was injured.

The eight men -- including Prasodjo, Sudarto and Iwan --
allegedly stole two kilograms of gold and killed First Sgt.
Witono in the Grogol robbery on Aug. 1.

Witono, 27, was killed while escorting a private company
employee transporting the gold from Pasar Grogol to Roxy Mas. The
officer, a member of the elite police mobile brigade, was shot
twice in the abdomen and a machete was used to gash his left
hand.

Aritonang said a police investigation had revealed that the
four arrested men had been involved in the robbery of a number of
bank customers and jewelry salespeople in Jakarta.

"This group of robbers have operated at least since 1995," he
said. "The members of the gang are actually more than eight.
However, only eight were involved in the Grogol case."

He said that the gang had made off with at least Rp 81.8
million (US$27,266), which they stole from nine bank customers in
1995 alone.

He said the gang had always robbed victims while they were
transporting valuable things from one place to another.

"They usually punctured the wheels of the customer's vehicle
before the person left the bank," he said. "Then they followed
the customers, until they stopped to repair the wheels, and
robbed them."

The group had also stolen at least 7.5 kilograms of gold and
Rp 18 million this year.

Aritonang said that the four arrested men had denied the
allegation that they gunned down Witono or Sumarto, who was now
recovering in hospital.

"It is common for a suspect to always name his accomplices,
who are still at large, as the shooter or killer."

"However, we already have one who finally confessed that he
slashed Witono with the machete," Aritonang said, without
disclosing the name of the suspect.

Last week, the police said Prasodjo was believed to be the one
who wounded Witono.

"We hope that soon we can catch the three other suspects and
seize the gun, used to shoot Witono, for evidence," Aritonang
said.

He declined to comment on the military jacket found among the
suspects' possessions, which hinted at the involvement of either
police or military personnel in the case.

"No personnel have been caught so far," he said. (cst/04)