Three hardened burglars nabbed, one shot dead

Three hardened burglars nabbed, one shot dead

JAKARTA (JP): South Jakarta police shot to death a burglar
belonging to a seven-men gang believed responsible for a series
of robberies in the mayoralty and Tangerang, and arrested three
of his accomplices were arrested in the raid yesterday morning.

Police said the gang had committed at least four burglaries
over the past six months in Cikupa district, Tangerang and
Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta as well as in Kebayoran Lama and
Pasar Minggu districts in South Jakarta.

Preliminary investigation revealed the gang had stolen
hundreds of tanks of Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) and electronic
goods. The gang members were also alleged to have killed a night
guard during a robbery in Kebayoran Lama, South Jakarta.

Three members of the gang managed to escape when detectives
stormed their hideout at around 2.15 a.m in Puri Kembangan
district, West Jakarta.

"Police fatally shot one member of the gang when he tried to
attack plainclothes officers with a machete," Lt. Col. Adang
Rismanto, chief of South Jakarta police, told reporters yesterday
in the company of Lt. Col. Latief Rabar, a spokesman for City
Police.

The last burglary committed by the seven-strong gang took
place at 5 a.m. Thursday when they broke into the electronic and
vehicular goods shop "King Motor" on Jl.Raya Pasar Minggu.

The owner, Tjah Lie Karno, was not at the shop on that night.

The seven burglars went to the location aboard two Carry vans
and entered the shop after breaking the gate's padlock and
opening the rolling door.

They made away with a lot of goods, including 15 LPG tanks, 11
sets of televisions, 17 automobile cassette-players, and a pack
of compact discs.

After receiving the report, a group of detectives headed to
the location and found that the gang's method of burglary
resembled that of the gang who stole LPG gas tanks from "Biru
Terang" shop, owned by Heri Kardjono, 53, on Jl. Raya Kebayoran
Lama, South Jakarta, on July 6.

The gang reportedly stole 266 LPG tanks and Rp 28 million
(US$13,035) in cash from the shop and killed A Cun, 65, a night
watchman hired by the shop owner. A Cun was found dead inside the
shop with his mouth gagged with a rag and his neck stabbed with
machete.

After that bloody burglary, police traced the burglars to
their hideout in Joglo, West Jakarta, but they found only an ID
card as evidence when they stormed the house. The ID card
belonged to Sanusi alias Samsi, 36.

Thanks to a tip-off from the public, police barely found any
difficulty locating the gang in a house in Puri Kembangan.

They stormed the house, shot dead Sujari alias Pesek, 23 who
attempted to attack the arresting police officers, and caught
Sanusi, 26, Ari alias Kecil, 23, and Sarmin, 25, but failed to
nab four others, identified as Sardi, Kiat, Nursalim and Yoko.

During the interrogation, the three suspects reportedly
admitted to two other burglaries in Tangerang and Tanjung Priok
aside from those in Pasar Minggu and Kebayoran Lama, and that
they always sold the stolen goods to two fences, identified as
Iwan in Tubagus Angke, West Jakarta, and Tjun Tjun in Pasar
Minggu.

Police arrested the two fences and confiscated hundreds of
stolen LPG tanks and dozens of electronic goods from them.

Police also impounded two allegedly stolen Zebra vans and two
Suzuki Carry vans from Samsi and his friends, which were used by
the gang for transportation during the burglaries. (jsk)