Three arrested with stolen telephone box

Three arrested with stolen telephone box

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested three people for stealing a
telephone exchange box from Jl. Yos Sudarso, North Jakarta.

Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira, chief of the North Jakarta
Police Precinct, said on Monday that the three, identified only
as Har, Ras, and Sar, were caught at the Kalideres bus terminal
before handing over the stolen goods to a buyer, Antara reported
yesterday.

The North Jakarta PT Telkom office had earlier announced that
around 600 telephone lines in the vicinity of Jl. Yos Sudarso had
been disrupted for three days due to last week's theft.

The theft has inflicted a loss of more than Rp 43 million to
PT Telkom. "The loss does not include the cost of repairs,"
Abubakar said.

He said there have been 24 thefts of telephone cables and
exchange boxes in North Jakarta since March.

Abubakar said Har, who hails from Central Java, received an
order for a telephone exchange box from a man who promised to buy
the item at between Rp 400,000 and Rp 500,000.

"Police have identified the man who placed the order," he
said.

While the North Jakarta police were busy with the arrest of
the three suspects, PT Telkom West Jakarta branch office said
yesterday that an exchange box on Jl. Rasuna Said, Kuningan,
South Jakarta had been stolen.

"As many as 600 telephone lines around Jl. HR Rasuna Said,
Kuningan, South Jakarta, have been disrupted since Monday due to
the theft," Jimmy R. Villanueva, head of PT Telkom West Jakarta
branch office said.

Jimmy said yesterday that the theft on Monday has affected
telephone numbers beginning with 520xxxx, 525xxxx, 526xxxx. Telex
lines beginning with the number 62xxx, belonging to office
buildings such as Akuntan Sentosa, Femina, Menjangan Sakti, TIRA,
Ustra Indonesia, Cipta Strada, PPI, Tax Offices and Bank Tabungan
Negara have also been disrupted.

Jimmy said repairs are being made, but he did not say when
services would be back to normal. (sur)