Security guards held for theft

JAKARTA (JP): The West Jakarta police have arrested four security guards for stealing a safe deposit box containing Rp 19.6 million (US$8,340) from a shopping center they worked at.

According to Lt. Col. Andi Chaerudin, the newly-appointed head of the West Jakarta police, the four suspects were caught in a taxi by accident yesterday morning by police officers who were examining motorists during a routine operation at Tubagus Angke in Jelambar.

During the examination, the police patrol found the broken deposit box and various tools, such as a crowbar and pliers, Chaerudin said.

The suspicious officers then asked the four men to explain the presence of the box and the tools to the detectives at the police station.

The suspects admitted that they are security guards at the ITC Mangga Dua shopping center and had taken the deposit box from an outlet on the fourth floor of the building about five hours earlier.

They were later identified as Solikhin Sujana, Gumanti, Wardin and Samsul Palak.

The arrest of the four was warmly welcomed by the suspects' co-workers, who apparently had been struggling to find the answers to a series of mysteries concerning missing items at the building. (bsr)