Student steals phone coin box

JAKARTA (JP): The Central Jakarta office of state telecommunications company PT Telkom, announced on Thursday the arrest of a high school student for allegedly stealing a public telephone coin box.

Septika N. Widyasrini, deputy head of the office, said that the thief, identified only as Aln, was caught red-handed by a security guard from Kebon Kelapa subdistrict, stealing the box on Jl. Batu Tulis Raya on Sept. 19.

"The total amount of money stolen was Rp 19,100 (US$1.81) in the form of 42 Rp 100 coins and 149 smaller coins," she said.

The thief, who opened the box using a fake key, was later handed over to the Gambir police station for further investigation, she said.

Septika said that there was an upward trend in telephone facility thefts, especially during this time of the hardship,

Two other thieves were arrested by security guards on Jl. Kelinci Raya and Jl. Pintu Air Raya, respectively. The first was found stealing a coin box and the second a six-meter telephone cable, she said.

Septika said that in a bid to anticipate any possible thefts, her office had intensified control of its facilities in cooperation with noncommissioned law enforcement officers and cooperatives in Central Jakarta. (hhr)