Six servicemen, 125 crooks arrested for vehicle thefts
Six servicemen, 125 crooks arrested for vehicle thefts
JAKARTA (JP): City police have arrested 131 suspects,
including six members of the Armed Forces (ABRI), believed to
have been involved in the thefts of 77 cars and 114 motorcycles
in the greater Jakarta area.
"The suspects were arrested in a massive 33-day special
operation for vehicle theft cases carried out by our personnel
throughout the city from Aug. 18 to Sept. 9," City Police Chief
Maj. Gen. Mochammad Hindarto announced during a press meeting
yesterday.
During the special operation, code named Opsus Mandiri 94, the
police also confiscated a .38 caliber Colt which was said to be
used by one of the gangs to hold up drivers of luxury cars and
take their vehicles.
Police determined that the handgun belonged to a member of the
Armed Forces, who has since been questioned by investigators from
ABRI internal affairs.
Hindarto said that his personnel were still looking for a
number of fugitives and persons believed to have cooperated with
the suspects in these criminal acts.
He responded in an evasive manner when asked for details on
the six ABRI members.
"We arrested six ABRI members arrested," the two-star general
said, refusing to comment further.
The Armed Forces members will be questioned by their
respective branches of the military and if evidence of their
wrongdoing is adequate they may be tried by a military tribunal
later
All of the stolen vehicles are now being displayed at the City
Police Headquarters, as well as at some police precincts in and
around the capital.
"Members of the public, who have yet to find their missing
vehicles, are kindly invited to come to see for themselves
whether their stolen property is among that on display," Hindarto
said.
He said he was concerned over whether the police would be able
to find the owners of all of the vehicles because the available
parking space at police headquarters is barely adequate to
accommodate the stolen cars and motorcycles.
Blank documents
Hindarto also announced yesterday that the police recently
arrested three men at the Traffic Directorate of the City Police
Headquarters for allegedly stealing thousands of blank forms used
for vehicle licensing documents (STNK).
The men were employed and paid Rp 20,000 monthly by the
directorate to facilitate the administrative procedures for
issuing the car titles.
The three, identified only by their initials as D, T and A,
are believed to have illegally issued around 5,000 fake car
titles since 1991 in cooperation with at least eight other
suspects, five of whom have already been arrested.
"Some of the stolen vehicles we confiscated during the
operation had vehicle titles issued by this gang," Hindarto said.
During the raid on the group, the police found 268 new, blank
vehicle title and licensing applications, along with the tax and
insurance forms normally issued with the STNK.
The gang, according to Hindarto, was arrested following a
report by the public about informal but express procedures for
getting the STNK without having to show ID cards and other
related documents.
Police also confiscated two Mercedes Benz sedans, a motorcycle
and one personal computer set. They also took over a 100-square-
meter plot of land believed to belong to the gang.
Of the estimated 5,000 bogus vehicle documents issued by the
gang, a great number of them went to people who wanted to have
their application forms processed quickly, Hindarto said.
He urged anyone who has used the services of people promising
them to facilitate the release of their vehicle titles and
licenses to go to the Traffic Directorate to check on the
legitimacy of their papers. (bsr)