Robberies frighten 'ojek' drivers

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)