Thief caught in the act at HI restaurant

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A thief was caught red-handed on Thursday morning at Hotel Indonesia's Ramayana Restaurant, while he was trying to steal a briefcase.

Hasan Basri bin Usman, 38, was caught in the act by his would- be victim Morteza Granghadr, a 45-year-old Iranian staying at the hotel.

Granghadr was having his breakfast at around 8 a.m. at the restaurant, which was packed with 300 guests, when the incident took place.

He put his black briefcase on a vacant seat at Table 7, and was just about to sit down with a plate of food from the buffet when he saw that his briefcase had been moved to an empty seat at another table, next to a man later identified as Hasan.

Granghadr quickly grabbed Hasan, who insisted that the briefcase was his, and handed him over to security guards. Hasan was later taken to City Police headquarters with several bruises on his face.

Restaurant manager Jamari said Hasan had been seen hanging out at the restaurant for several days.

"I thought that he was one of the hotel's guests, as he was always well dressed," he told reporters.

He said that the hotel security guards found it difficult to monitor visitors at the restaurant, which received at least 300 visitors each morning for breakfast.

Police confiscated from Hasan, a resident of Kayu Agung subdistrict, Ogan Komering Ilir district, Palembang, South Sumatra, his driver's license, ID card and several local lottery tickets.