Robbers steal Rp 75m from bank client in South Jakarta

JAKARTA (JP): Two men on a motorcycle got away with Rp 75 million (US$11,500) on Tuesday when they grabbed a bag belonging to a businessman who had just withdrawn the money from a bank.

So far nobody has been arrested in connection with the robbery, which occurred near the parking lot of Indorama office building on Jl. Rasuna Said, South Jakarta.

The victim, 46-year-old Sucipto, has a broken leg and grazes. The police report says he was immediately taken to nearby MMC hospital. However, hospital officials deny the report.

During the incident, Sucipto was carrying a plastic bag containing the Rp 75 million he had withdrawn from Bank Central Asia on Jl. Fatmawati.

At the bank he was accompanied by his boss, who later drove Sucipto to Jl. Rasuna Said. There he was to deliver the money to PT Amek Indorama.

At 2:50 p.m. the car stopped across the street from the building and Sucipto had to cross the busy road to get to PT Amek Indorama.

Before he reached the parking lot of the building, two men on a Yamaha RX King motorcycle passed him and snatched the plastic bag containing the money.

Sucipto tried to run after the robbers but stumbled and fell over on the street. He broke his right leg and sustained grazes in the fall.

Nobody witnessed the crime and according to Sucipto he was alone when he carried the money.

"We have always advised people who withdraw large amounts of money to use security personnel," South Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Satria Harry Prasetya said.

Two similar street robberies occurred in Central Jakarta on Monday last week and in mid-February where two robbers on a Yamaha RX King motorcycle made off with Rp 564 million and Rp 500 million respectively.

At midday on July 12, private employee Budi Zakaria, 34, who had just withdrawn Rp 564 million from Bank Bali on busy Jl. M.H. Thamrin in Central Jakarta, was robbed by two men on an RX King motorcycle, a vehicle commonly used by street robbers in the country.

As in many similar robberies of bank customers on the street, police have not managed to identify the robbers.

The July 12 robbery took place in front of scores of people in the bank's parking lot, but none of them attempted to stop the robbers from escaping.

Budi was about to open the door of his car parked in the lot when the two men approached him on their motorcycle, pressed a pistol to his back and snatched the bag.

In mid-February, a similar street robbery took place on Jl. Haji Agus Salim. The suspects, who made off with Rp 500 million in cash, fired at least two shots to make onlookers give way as they escaped on their motorcycle, also an RX King.

When asked about the possibility that these street robberies where conducted by the same men, Lt. Col. Prasetya said he had no idea since the case was still under investigation with strong backup from other police stations in the capital.

"Based on our experience, the robbers probably observed the victim for a certain amount of time before going into action," Prasetya said. (03/bsr)