Robberies that were never solved

Robberies that were never solved

From Kompas

The Horticulture Research Center of Lembang, under the supervision of the Agriculture Research and Development Center on Jl. Tangkubanperahu No. 517 in Lembang, Bandung, West Java (now known as the Research Center of Vegetables) has, since 1992, been regularly broken into at night. The incidents, like clockwork, have taken place every six months.

The thieves usually went after computers, electronic equipment and cash. The police have, for the umpteenth time, registered the stolen items, an act that will, undoubtedly, not produce results.

In this year alone, there were two similar break-ins on May 28. Computers and a sum of Rp 15 million vanished without a trace.

About a month later, a similar incident occurred at the Segunung installation office in Cianjur under the same modus operandi (the installation office was part of the Lembang Horticulture section before).

At the time, the respective office personnel were quite sure that the police would not be able to solve this crime. Their doubts became a certainty on Oct. 20 at midnight, when all the security guards were found tied up.

The thieves had a field day when they broke into all the rooms, cupboards and the office safe. There were about 11 office workers there at the time.

All of the equipment from the research center, which is government property, was loaded into a van parked in the office pool. The office personnel have grown pessimistic once more about the inability of the police to solve the robbery. Worse still, since the thieves seemed to have prior knowledge about the institute's assets.

Should the research equipment, which is government property, all be stolen before the thieves are found? We appeal to the authorities for protection of the respective government assets, and the prevention of repeat break-ins.

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