Special team deployed to crack down on crime

BOGOR (JP): The Bogor Regional Police will deploy 18 plainclothes officers to crime-prone areas in an effort to maintain security during the Christmas and Idul Fitri holidays.

The officers, all skilled in martial arts, will be deployed in six teams to areas prone to criminal activity, notably the Jonggol-Cariu-Cianjur area, bus terminals, markets and business centers.

Speaking to journalists on Friday, newly appointed Bogor Regional Police chief Col. Edi Darnadi said the move followed reports of two bus hijackings over the past several days in which passengers were robbed of their valuables.

"One of the officers' tasks will be to 'infiltrate' buses by those pretending to be passengers, particularly on buses operating late at night along the Jagorawi toll road," Edi said.

"We will try our best to nail the robbers. Therefore, travelers can take their trips without worry," he said.

Two bus robberies have taken place this month, the first on Dec. 6 in Gunung Putria and the second on Dec. 16 in Sentul.

Both robberies had similar modi operandi, with a single man posing as a passenger before hijacking the bus with a firearm.

Edi asserted the possibility the same man was responsible for both robberies.

Witnesses described the man as tall, dark skinned and with short hair.

"It is possible that the robberies were committed by a civilian as many are well-informed about how to obtain and use guns," Edi said.

Separately, Bogor Police chief Lt. Col. Ade Husein said his men had a lead on a suspect in the murder of an attorney from the Bogor Lawyers Club.

Lawyer Andi M. Yusuf was working on a land dispute case at the time of his murder on Dec. 5. (24/21/edt)