Prominent ex-con Johny Sembiring kidnapped, killed

Prominent ex-con Johny Sembiring kidnapped, killed

JAKARTA (JP): Johny Sembiring, one the most prominent figures
of Indonesia's criminal underworld in the 1960s, was kidnapped
and killed by a group of unidentified men.

Sembiring, 62, ran a debt collection business. He was
reportedly kidnapped from his BMW sedan by a group of men riding
a Kijang van Thursday afternoon in Tanah Abang district, Central
Jakarta.

He was found dead Friday evening on the roadside in Dukuh
Sirna Rasa village, Cariu subdistrict, Bogor, West Java.

Along with Sembiring, the men also kidnapped his driver
Tumiran, aged 30, but he was earlier dumped, alive, in nearby a
spot in the same district.

Sources at the city police headquarters said yesterday that
police had yet to solve the mystery surrounding his murder.

Johny Sembiring, also known by his real name John Farrel
Sembiring, had served a series of jail terms and once managed to
escape from prison.

Later, the ex-con promised not to return to crime and turned
his attention to debt-collection. He also became a part-time
evangelist to inmates over the past several years.

He was said to have left his office in Tanah Abang for his
home on Jl. Redaksi, a housing complex in East Jakarta, at around
5 p.m.

According to his driver Tumiran, his BMW was reportedly hit
three times from behind by a Kijang van packed with a group more
than five of men, who the police did not identify.

Tumiran got out of the car to settle the matter, but the men
blamed him for the incident instead.

What happened next was reported the press in several different
versions.

One version had it that, seeing his driver exchanging harsh
words with the men, Sembiring got out of his car to assist.

No sooner did Sembiring appear than the men dragged him and
Tumiran into the van at gunpoint.

This led observers to believe the group of men had
deliberately hit his car and harassed his driver with the sole
intention of luring Sembiring out of the car.

A uniformed serviceman, who happened to be at the scene,
sought to help Sembiring and Tumiran but soon retreated after
being told by the mysterious persons were also servicemen after
they showed off their firearms.

Another version has it that it was a police officer who saw
them quarreling. He reportedly proposed they settle the case
themselves instead of bringing it to police, and left.

After the officer left, the men dragged Sembiring and Tumiran
into their van at gunpoint.

Saying nothing

The kidnappers blindfolded and tied them up, saying nothing
while driving the car to some destinations unknown to Tumiran.

Around 8 p.m., Tumiran was dumped outside in Jonggol district,
Bogor, and discovered by the area residents blindfolded, tied up
and with minor injuries.

Back to Jakarta, Tumiran reported the case his boss' family
and to police Friday morning.

Unfortunately, Sembiring was found dead at around 10 p.m by
the residents of Dukuh Sirna Rasa, who had earlier saw something
suspicious dumped from a Kijang van which speedily returned
towards Jakarta.

Another report said his body was discovered in a burlap bag
with gunshot wounds and bearing signs of torture.

However, Sembiring's family claimed that the Bogor police
informed them of the death by phone at around 7 p.m., saying the
body had been taken to the Red-Cross hospital in the city.

Sembiring's body is scheduled to be buried today at the Pondok
Kelapa cemetery after his daughter, who lives in Germany,
returns. (jsk)