Rp 250 million stolen in daytime robbery

JAKARTA (JP): A daylight holdup took place in Central Jakarta on Wednesday when an armed man robbed a private employee of Rp 250 million in cash in front of his office and shot a police officer who was escorting the employee.

A witness said that Kartana, an employee of PT Corolles, had just returned from the Bank Mandiri branch office on Jl. Juanda, Central Jakarta, with the money he had withdrawn when an unidentified man intercepted him at the front door of his office on Jl. Hasyim Ashari.

Bambang, the witness, who is also an employee of the company, said Kartana, was escorted by Sgt. Widodo to withdraw the money. They were traveling on a motorcycle.

"As they approached the front door of the office, a gunman intercepted them, shooting officer Widodo in the left thigh, and then grabbed the bag containing the money from Kartana," Bambang said.

Sapuri, a parking attendant, told Gambir Police Subprecinct investigators that he saw two unidentified men on a Honda GL Pro motorcycle. "The pillion rider, with a short gun in his hand, got off the bike and attacked the company's employee and the officer." He said he could not identify the men. "The driver, wearing a helmet, was on the bike."

Another employee, Sutrisno, told police that he saw everything through the office's glass wall. "I was scared. I did nothing but watch the robbery from the beginning until the robbers escaped. It happened very quickly."

He said that he heard two gunshots. "There was an interval between the first and the second gunshot," Sutrisno told the police investigators.

Police said that the second gunshot was fired by Sgt. Widodo.

Reports said the bullet from Widodo's Colt pistol hit a motorist, identified as Yana. He received a slight injury to the left shoulder and had rushed to a nearby hospital for treatment.

Widodo was also rushed to hospital soon after the robbers escaped.

Armed robberies have frequently occurred of late in the capital with large sums of money being stolen. Reports, however, have said that the police have been too slow in dealing with such robberies, as many of the perpetrators are still at large.

City police spokesman Supt. Nur Usman denied the allegation saying that the police had been very serious in dealing with such incidents.

"So far, we have smashed a number of holdup gangs, each of which had two or three members," he said without elaborating. (asa)