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)