Wed, 10 Nov 1999

Police shoot dead suspected robber

JAKARTA (JP): North Jakarta Police detectives located and shot dead one of nine suspects in a Rp 162 million (US$23,142.80) robbery late last month, after he resisted arrest on Tuesday in Slipi, West Jakarta.

North Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Wisjnu Amat Sastro said the suspect, identified as Ending, also known as Andi, was a member of a gang which robbed a resident of Muara Karang on Oct. 27.

"We've been trailing him ever since," Wisjnu said, adding that of the remaining eight suspects, three were arrested, while five others are still at large.

Andi, a father of a six-year-old girl, was shot in the left side of his chest and in his right temple. Several red marks indicating the possibility of torture were also found on his body.

The victim's wife, who is in an advanced stage of pregnancy, said she was unaware of her husband's activities.

"I just sell electronic goods in our neighborhood of Palmerah, West Jakarta. I did not know about my husband," said the wife, who refused to give her name.

Separately, three major robberies occurred on Monday in the capital.

A 66-year-old man and his wife were robbed at gunpoint on Monday at about 3:30 a.m., when four unidentified men broke into their home at Jl. Kesehatan Raya No. 16, Petojo Selatan subdistrict, Gambir, Central Jakarta.

The victims, Nur Fuad and wife Mardiana, said they were awakened when the four entered their home.

Nur was held at gunpoint, and the men got away with Rp 50 million and some jewelry from Nur's home. Central Jakarta Police have no leads on the culprits.

In South Jakarta, three men, who claimed to be undercover police officers, took Rp 7 million and a cellular phone belonging to three livestock traders from their rented home on Jl. Ki Hajar Dewantoro, Ciputat, Tangerang.

In North Jakarta, Penjaringan Police officers managed to arrest one of two men, who were trying to run off with Rp 3 million belonging to a resident of a housing complex on Jl. Pluit Timur, Pluit, Penjaringan.

North Jakarta Police chief of detectives Maj. Syafril Nursal identified the arrested man as Cas, 21.

"At about 1:30 a.m. on Monday, Cas and his friend Jef were trying to get away with Rp 3 million, which belonged to a resident in the housing complex. We caught Cas, who had Rp 1 million on him," Syafril told reporters.

"Jef was able to get away."

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said on Tuesday that from Sept. 1 to Nov. 5, police recorded a total of 20 unsolved robberies, both violent and nonviolent. (01/ylt)