Rogue officers held, discharged

Rogue officers held, discharged

Apriadi Gunawan, The Jakarta Post, Medan

A police deserter was detained on Wednesday for allegedly robbing
a shop in Medan, North Sumatra, while the local military
dishonorably discharged two soldiers for other criminal offenses.

The police suspect, Brig. Mangansah Purba, allegedly robbed a
cellular phone shop on Jl. Brigjen Katamso.

Medan Police chief Adj. Comr. Irwan Anwar said the robbery
took place at around 9 p.m. on Tuesday. Mangansah, dressed in
regular clothes, had pretended to buy a cellular phone from the
Ponsel Kartika shop.

When the shop owner showed him a range of cell phones, the
suspect pocketed one of them and tried to run away, Irwan added.

"The shop owner cried out for help. Shortly after, residents
chased and arrested the suspect. They later beat and kicked him.
As he was severely injured, he admitted to being a policeman but
the residents did not believe him," he said.

Irwan said the residents took Mangansah to the Medan Police
station along with a Nokia cell phone and a Honda GL Pro
motorcycle.

The suspect is being detained by the police for questioning.

Mangansah, who was recently transferred from Pancur Batu
Police station to Kutalimbaru police station in Padang, had been
wanted by the police for alleged desertion for the past three
weeks.

"We will deal with the case thoroughly, so he (Mangansah)
faces legal sanctions ... He will be punished for his crime,"
Irwan said.

The suspect, he said, would be charged under Article 363 of
the Criminal Code on theft, which carries a maximum penalty of
five years in jail.

North Sulawesi Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Bambang Prihady said
on Wednesday, that it was the second robbery case in the province
involving police officers in the past four months.

Last May, two policemen were arrested and discharged from
their force for robbing a businessman in Binjai city, he added.

"This year alone, some 40 cases of disciplinary offenses
involving police officers are being tried in court. Most of them
are desertion cases and some are related to extortion," Bambang
said.

Also on Wednesday, Bukit Barisan Military Commander Maj. Gen.
Tri Tamtomo, overseeing security in North Sumatra, West Sumatra
and Riau, discharged two soldiers -- First Pvt. Ismed Siregar,
32, and First Corp. Supriyanto, 32.

Ismed was dismissed from the military for engaging in a love
affair with the wife of his military colleague, and Supriyanto
for possessing crystal methamphetamine (shabu-shabu) and an
illegal firearm.

"Their deeds embarrassed the Indonesian Military, so they
deserve to be discharged," Tri said after a ceremony to dismiss
them at the Yonif Armed/105 military office's grounds in Deli
Tua, Deli Serdang.

He said that his office has held similar ceremonies on 60
occasions to discharge an unspecified number of soldiers in 2004.

Tri vowed to continue tightening control over his
subordinates.

"We dismiss those guilty of legal violations as a warning to
other soldiers," he said.