Three members of known criminal gangs shot dead

JAKARTA (JP): Police detectives shot dead three men alleged to be members of notorious criminal gangs in separate incidents early on Wednesday, fulfilling their recent pledge to take stern measures against brutal crooks.

The three victims were identified as Sahrul, 30, a resident of Cijahe in Bogor; Andi, 29, of Pejaten Timur in South Jakarta and Rahmad alias Tanggir, 22, of Grogol in Depok's Limau district to the south of here, city police spokesman Lt. Col. Edward Aritonang said.

City police vowed recently to step up their fight against criminals and the rising incidence of crime brought about by the prolonged economic crisis.

Aritonang confirmed the shootings were carried out by detectives from South Jakarta and Depok police precincts respectively.

He explained that Andi and Sahrul were members of a gang specializing in a series of bank robberies in the Greater Jakarta area. Another gang member, identified as Mahmud, is still at large, he added.

Aritonang said that Sahrul was arrested at a discotheque in Senayan, Central Jakarta, at 1:30 a.m. on Wednesday and instructed to take police to the hideouts of other gang members in South Jakarta.

Sahrul led five detectives to a rented house on Jl. Sawo in Tebet which he said was the gang's headquarters, but which turned out to be empty except for a television set and a Mazda sedan.

The arrested man told police he needed the toilet, then attempted to escape by jumping out the bathroom window.

"He ignored warning shots and police were forced to shoot him. He was shot in the chest, leg and forehead," Aritonang said.

Working on tip-off provided by Sahrul, detectives went to Pasar Minggu in search of Andi, the second victim, and was told by his friends that he had gone to Poltangan in South Jakarta.

"Andi was tracked down in Poltangan, but attempted to flee when he realized the police were closing in on him," the city police spokesman said.

He was apprehended and a scuffle ensued, during which Andi tried to seize a policeman's gun and turn it on the officers.

"He was shot immediately because his actions posed a danger to police lives," he said.

A source at Depok police precinct said that Rahmad, the third victim, was thought to belong to a gang specializing in vehicle thefts and had just been released from Cipinang penitentiary.

No details were available about the circumstances of his death.

The bodies of the three men were taken to Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital in Central Jakarta for postmortem examinations.

Sahrul's body was claimed by his wife, Siti Nurjanah, while Andi and Rachmad's bodies remained unclaimed as of Wednesday night.

"I came to Jakarta to look for my husband because my youngest son is ill and is missing his father very much. But I never thought that I would find him in this condition," Siti said.

She claimed to be unaware of her husband's real occupation, saying that she thought he was a used car dealer.

"If police identified him as a criminal and he had to die in this way, I don't care. All I know is that when he was still alive he tried hard to earn money to feed his children," Siti said. (emf)