Three men mobbed for robbing taxi drivers

JAKARTA (JP): Two youths were severely beaten by an angry mob in Central Jakarta yesterday after they allegedly assaulted and robbed a taxi driver.

In a similar incident, a crowd of people attacked a man in East Jakarta for allegedly trying to steal a taxi.

City Police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said the two teenagers -- Jiko Handoko, 17, and Rahmat Nugroho, 16 -- were being held at the Gambir Police precinct and the other suspect, Srijatno, 30, was being treated at the police hospital in Kramat Jati, East Jakarta.

He said Jiko and Rahmat allegedly stabbed their victim, the driver of a Gading Taxi, in the stomach after he failed to comply with their demands.

"Jiko admitted during interrogation that he stabbed Darlius because the man refused to give up his money."

He said the driver, Darlius Madrus, 42, of the Galur subdistrict in Central Jakarta, suffered severe wounds and was treated in the emergency room of Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital yesterday afternoon.

The two suspects hailed Darlius' taxi somewhere in Matraman, East Jakarta, about 1 a.m. and asked the driver to take them to the National Monument in Central Jakarta, he said.

When they stopped at the southwest gate of the monument, the two threatened Darlius with knives and demanded money, but he refused.

"Jiko, who was sitting beside Darlius, lost his temper and stabbed Darlius in the stomach," he said.

"The courageous Darlius managed to open the door and jump out of the car. He screamed out as he tried to run away."

Aritonang said Jiko and Rahmat must have panicked when they saw people coming in their direction but they were unable to restart the car.

Both got out of the car and tried to run away but the crowd caught up with them and beat them before handing them over to officers at the Gambir Police precinct, he said.

Aritonang said the other suspect, Srijatno, was attacked in the Pulogadung area, East Jakarta, by a crowd of people who allegedly saw him try to steal a Kopti Taxi while the driver was urinating in the bushes about three meters from his taxi.

He said the taxi driver, Busmin Panjaitan, 43, stopped on Jl. Alu Alu just before midnight.

"He did not turn the engine off because he thought it wouldn't take him long to accomplish his mission."

"But the unemployed and homeless Srijatno was apparently tempted by the idea of getting rich quickly and decided to steal the taxi."

Aritonang said Busmin did not realize that Srijatno was in the car until he heard the car's door being closed. Busmin shouted for help and tried to open the driver's side door.

Srijatno either panicked or did not know how to drive so he was a "sitting duck" for the angry crowd, he said. (cst)