Provinces deploy snipers to fight road hijackers

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.