Robberies frighten 'ojek' drivers

TANGERANG (JP): The rising number of robberies victimizing ojek (motorcycle taxi) drivers in Tangerang regency, where an average of eight incidents take place every month, has stirred unrest among both the drivers and local residents.

"The high frequency of robberies has discouraged the ojek drivers so they are forced to be selective about choosing their potential passengers, especially at night," Tangerang Police chief Lt. Col. Pudji Hartanto Iskandar said on Sunday.

The drivers, for example, now strongly reject all requests by would-be passengers to take them to unclear addresses, Pudji was quoted by Antara as saying.

If they discover that the would-be passengers wanted to rob them, they would alert their colleagues and beat the culprits, he said, adding that in certain cases several robbers had been beaten to death.

In order to help solve the problem, the police were holding a kind of training course for 15 ojek drivers who used to operate in Teluknaga, Balaraja, Cipondoh and Kosambi on how to improve their self-defense, Pudji said.

Techniques taught during the course included how to hunt down and arrest alleged robbers, he said.

They were also told to exercise restraint and not take justice into their own hands, Pudji added. (hhr)