'Red Axe' members shot dead

JAKARTA (JP): City police shot dead five alleged robbers between Jan. 15 and Jan. 20, three of them were members of the notorious "Red Axe" street gang.

Chief of Jakarta Police Detectives Sr. Comr. Harry Montolalu said on Thursday four red axes, some cash, a sideview mirror of a BMW sedan and a cellular phone were seized from the robbers.

The three "Red Axe" street robber gang members, identified as Joko, Parulian Manurung and Yusik Ferry Siswanto, were shot dead for trying to resist arrest, Harry said.

Police also arrested six other gang members in a raid on a house of Jl. RE. Martadinata, North Jakarta on Jan. 19 following the capture of Parulian a day earlier. Parulian was gunned down as he was trying to escape just after he disclosed the house that sheltered his friends, while Joko was shot during the raid.

The six suspects, identified as Suradi, Sofyan, Hotlen Simanjuntak, Patar Marpaung, Jekson Napitupulu and Ade Kampak, have been placed under the city police's custody.

In their latest crackdown last week, police shot dead two men known as street robbers operating on Jl. Tipar, Cakung, east Jakarta. The suspects stabbed a police officer, Adj. Comr. Maskarif, who tried to foil the robbery they committed on a bus. (jun/ylt)