Suspected thieves mobbed to death

JAKARTA (JP): Two suspected thieves were mobbed to death by local residents after being caught committing crimes in West Jakarta and Depok, respectively, police said on Monday.

City police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis identified the suspected thieves as Indra Yuhelmi, 18, a student at private high school in Cipondoh, Tangerang, and Harsono, 28, an unemployed resident of Bukit Cengkeh housing complex in Depok.

Indra died of severe burns to his body after being set on fire by residents of Rawa Buaya in West Jakarta. The residents saw Indra and a number of his schoolmates attempting to remove the side mirror of car parked in the residential area at about 9 p.m. on Sunday.

While his schoolmates managed to flee, Indra was apprehended by residents, who dragged the young man to a vacant field where they doused him with gasoline and set him on fire, police said.

Indra also suffered severe head wounds from blunt objects, according to the police.

"We can't even imagine how the incident happened but our officers are still collecting evidence at the site," Lubis said.

Separately in Depok at around 2 a.m. on Monday, Harsono and an unidentified accomplice were mobbed by residents after being caught breaking into the house of one of Harsono's neighbor, identified as Dina Masdiana.

The suspected burglars were caught after Dina, startled by the intruders, screamed for help, Lubis said.

Harsono died at the scene and was taken to Ciptomangunkusumo General Hospital for a postmortem examination. His accomplice suffered severe head wounds and is currently being treated at Soekanto Police Hospital.

"We'll process the mobbings because the residents also violated the law," Lubis said.

No arrests have been made in either of the mobbings.(emf)