Students involved in bus robbery

BEKASI (JP): Police detained eight of around 50 vocational high school students alleged of involvement in a robbery committed on Wednesday aboard a Mayasari bus on Jl. Rawa Panjang, Bekasi.

After the students boarded the bus, one of them put a sickle around a passenger's neck and demanded that he hand over his wallet, Bekasi police public service unit's First. Adj. Insp. Arwanto told The Jakarta Post.

The victim, Johanes, 32, is an employee of PT Jasa Marga, a state-owned company that operates toll roads.

Johanes relinquished his wallet, containing Rp 40,000 in cash, which the students then returned, leaving Rp 2,500 inside.

The police officer said the students did not rob the other three passengers on the bus, leaving the vehicle as it entered the West Bekasi toll gate.

He said that as soon as the students disembarked, Johanes reported the incident directly to security personnel and other employees at the toll gate. The security personnel then asked street vendors to pursue the students.

Four of the students, he said, were caught around the toll gate while four others were nabbed at Bekasi Mall with the help of several people at the mall. They were beaten by their captors before being handed over to police.

Arwanto said the police found no evidence of the crime in the students' possession, saying that the stolen money and sickle had probably been given to other students who managed to escape.(01)