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)