Robbers kill bank security guard, wounds manager
Robbers kill bank security guard, wounds manager
JAKARTA (JP): A security guard at a branch of Bank Central
Asia (BCA) in West Jakarta was fatally stabbed and the bank
manager suffered stab wounds in an foiling armed robbery on
Thursday afternoon.
The incident at the branch on Jl. Keamanan happened at 11:25
a.m., 10 minutes after an explosion at Hayam Wuruk Plaza shopping
center, located about 500 meters away.
Witnesses and police officers in the area said a group of at
least six men armed with guns and machetes and riding on three
motorcycles were involved in the attempted robbery.
Upon their arrival, two of the men stood on alert at a
newspaper stall in front of the bank while the others, armed with
machetes, a FN-type weapon and Colt-38 pistol, entered the bank.
Bank security guard Syahroni, 25, immediately approached the
four, according to witnesses.
Before Syahroni could question them, one of the robbers
stabbed Syahroni with his machete in his chest, stomach and legs.
Before the frightened employees and customers, the group
demanded money from bank manager Hendrik Dermawan.
When Hendrik refused, one of the robbers slashed Hendrik's
hand.
Employees and bank customers panicked and screamed for help.
The robbers then hastily left the bank and fled in different
directions.
One of the robbers, identified later as Rojak, fled on a
motorcycle but collided with a becak (pedicab) near a traditional
market 200 meters from the bank.
Rojak tried to run but was caught and assaulted by dozens of
local residents. They took a FN gun from his possession.
Another suspect, identified as Mustakim, was apprehended by
police a few minutes later. He was hiding at a spot near the
scene.
The four remaining suspects, two of them identified as Piping
and Amir, are still at large.
Police had difficulty collecting information from Rojak and
Mustakim because they refused to talk. But West Jakarta Police
deputy chief Maj. Hengky Kaluana said last night that the two had
admitted to plotting the robbery three months ago.
Hendrik and the security guard were taken to Husada Hospital
but Syahroni died on the way.
His body was transported to Cipto Mangunkusumo General
Hospital for autopsy.
His father, Nimin, 62, told reporters at the hospital that
Syahroni would be buried at the public cemetery near his house in
Kebon Pala, East Jakarta, shortly after the autopsy was
completed.
Syahroni, he said, was the eighth of his 12 children.
"The last time I met him was last night and I didn't have any
significant forewarnings that he would die soon," said Nimin.
Hendrik remains hospitalized. Reporters were not allowed to
see him or talk to his relatives.
West Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Timur Pradopo confirmed the
robbers fled empty-handed.
He also dismissed speculation that the robbery and the
explosion were connected.
"There's no relationship between the two incidents," Timur
insisted.
BCA, once owned by former president Soeharto's cronies and
relatives, was taken over by the government last August following
Soeharto's resignation.
One of the most recent attempted bank robberies occurred on
Jan. 12, involving a Sierra Leonean at a branch of Bank
Internasional Indonesia at Plaza Indonesia shopping center in
Central Jakarta.
The foreigner failed in his attempt but grabbed a gun from a
bank security guard, shooting the bank's windows before he was
arrested. (jun/01)