Police suspect veteran robbers of Tuesday's armed robbery

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta Police detectives strongly suspect two men as the culprits of Tuesday's afternoon armed robbery in which the two suspects robbed a couple of Rp 68 million (US$9067).

The incident occurred in the parking lot of a car showroom on Jl. Buncit Raya in Pancoran.

South Jakarta Police chief of detectives Maj. Rycko Amelza Daniel identified the men only as Sa and Mo.

"Sa is a longtime robber who lives in Depok. I know his wife very well. He is actually an ojek (motorcycle taxi) driver but is also a thief. His wife has told him many times to give up robbing people," officer Rycko said.

Earlier on Tuesday, the main victim from whom the money was snatched, Mrs. Erniyanti, 43, was carrying the cash in her black purse.

"She had come with her husband in a white Feroza jeep to pay for a Peugeot sedan they had planned to buy from PT Astra Prima. Upon entering the parking lot, two men on a Yamaha RX King motorcycle held a machete to her neck and robbed her," Rycko told reporters.

He added that two of his Mobile Detectives (Resmob) officers had already rented a place near Sa's house in Depok and had paid a down payment for three months.

"Let's see what comes out of this. We should get these men within two months, since he visits his wife only once or twice a month. He has had with him this Madura gang of robbers for a long, long time," he said.

Rycko explained that Erniyanti and her husband, who lives on Jl. Semanggi II in Ciputat, had haggled her for three days over the price of the car they were going to buy.

"They finally agreed to a price they would pay. When they went to the showroom on Tuesday they were robbed," Rycko said.

Sa and Mo are also suspected of a robbery on Jan. 21, in which four men riding on two motorcycles with helmets and black jackets robbed a man of a bag containing Rp 85 million.

Before taking off, one of the culprits slashed the lower part of the left arm of the victim, identified later as Suparwi, with a machete.

The robbery took place in front of the victim's house on Jl. Damai V, South Jakarta, just as Suparwi got out of his van with his brother Suradi and driver Dono. Suradi told reporters that the whole incident took place within three minutes.

"Those men came. When my brother got out of the car, they grabbed the bag from him, slashed his left arm and sped off," he said. He explained that his brother, a businessman like himself, had just withdrawn the money from a BCA branch office on Jl. Fatmawati.

"That money was for a new car," Suradi said. Based on witness testimony, police were able to identify two of the suspected gang members as Sa and Mo.

Rycko added that armed robberies against city residents, particularly bank customers, frequently occurred at Friday midday when the streets were busy with Muslims, including police officers, who temporarily left their work for the Friday prayer. (ylt)