Provinces deploy snipers to fight road hijackers
Yuli Tri Suwarni and Bahrul Ilmi Yakub, The Jakarta Post, Bandung/Palembang
Dozens of police snipers have fanned out in crime-prone areas across West Java, Lampung and South Sumatra to ensure the safety of travelers returning home to celebrate the religious holidays of Idul Fitri and Christmas this month.
A spokesman for the West Java Provincial Police, Adj. Sr. Comr. Dade Achmad, said that, since Dec. 8, more than 100 snipers have been stationed at hidden posts along the northern and southern highways to support police operations.
The snipers have been deployed in Subang, Losari, Purwakarta, Cikampek, Cikopo and Ciawi, Bogor all areas "prone to hijacking of passenger buses and trucks supplying basic commodities from and to Jakarta, West, Central and East Java," he said here on Monday.
He added that provincial police have also deployed more than 1,500 personnel, with the help of the local military, to launch the so-called Ketupat and Lilin operations to similarly step up security during the Idul Fitri and Christmas seasons.
Dade added that some of the snipers and anti-riot personnel have taken up positions in public places such as shopping centers, tourist resorts, bus and railway stations and places of worship in anticipation of social disturbances.
He noted that the disturbance of security and order on the eve of the Idul Fitri has been signaled by the powerful explosion of a handmade bomb in a railway track in Cikampek two weeks ago.
Dade also said he regretted the recent conflict between the Indramayu Police Precinct, and the local military police, but added it had been already resolved amicably.
The conflict erupted when scores of policemen ransacked the local military police office, a Kijang van and two motorcycles last Thursday to protest the arrest of a police officer in line with the rife fuel theft in the Balongan fuel tankers.
In Palembang, South Sumatra, Adj. Sr. Comr. M. Sulaiman, spokesman for the provincial police, hundreds of snipers have also been deployed to combat criminals who have frequently held up passenger buses and trucks passing through the central and eastern highways.
He called on travelers and passenger buses to take the central highway route, which was found safer -- not least because the eastern highway has been badly damaged by overloaded trucks coming to and from Jakarta. As such, he added, the resulting stopped and slowed traffic has proven tempting to the felons.
"The eastern highway going through from the Bakahuni ferry seaport in southern Lampung to Prabumulih, Palembang, Bitung, Jambi and Pekanbaru has been full of big holes, causing difficulties for motorists to run their vehicles in a normal speed," he said.
Sulaiman also called on motorists and travelers to stay alert against robberies along the 200-kilometer Lahat-Tebing Tinggi road in the province's southern part.
"This route is quite prone to robberies because of the rare settlement areas," he said.
In Bandar Lampung, Brig. Gen. Sugiri, chief of the Lampung Provincial Police, concurred.
"The snipers have been trained in handling robberies, including identifying robbers," he said, adding it would be impossible for the deployed snipers to mistake one of their targets.
Sugiri called on motorists and travelers to stay alert along certain portions of the eastern highway in the province since a road enhancement project was still under way.
"Motorists should stay alert for accumulating construction materials put on the road, and big holes along the roads in Dabuk Rejo, Mesuji and Tugu Mulyo in the province," he said.