Thugs continue to terrorize Jakarta
Thugs continue to terrorize Jakarta
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Jakarta administration, city police and military have
launched a month-long campaign against thugs in the capital. The
following is the first of a series of articles on thugs, who
continue to instill fear in Jakarta residents.
It is 1 a.m. as Vicky, 24, steps out of a public bus and rushes
toward a minivan waiting for passengers on Jl. Mayjen Sutoyo
across from the Indonesian Christian University (UKI) in East
Jakarta.
Before he can get into the minivan, Vicky, who works as a
hotel employee in South Jakarta, is stopped by three mean-looking
men who demand that he surrender all of his money.
Fearing that he might be hurt by the three thugs, Vicky gives
an envelop containing his first month's salary to the three.
"I didn't even know the exact amount of money inside the
envelope I received that day," said Vicky, adding that the
envelope was still sealed.
Instead of helping Vicky, dozens of people at the crime site
looked on impassively. Some even fled, perhaps out of fear that
they would fall prey to the hoodlums.
After taking the envelope, the thugs asked where he was living
and gave him back some small change; just enough to reach home.
Luckily, Vicky was not hurt, even though he arrived home
empty-handed after waiting for his first salary for one month.
Vicky had just started working at a hotel in South Jakarta.
"I gave them my money because I saw someone being stabbed one
night by several thugs who dominate the UKI area," he said.
On another occasion, three young women were taking a taxi to a
five-star hotel on Jl. Jend. Sudirman, Central Jakarta at around
6 p.m. to eat together.
On the way to the hotel four men stopped the taxi on Jl. K.H.
Mas Mansyur in Tanah Abang market.
One man stood in front of the car, one at the right rear door,
one at the rear left and another at the back leaning on the
trunk.
The man at the rear left door suddenly opened the unlocked
door and demanded cash from the three girls.
"What do you want?" asked Pingkan Juliatrixe, who sat in the
front in a low voice.
"We want your money!" the man outside said.
With courage Pingkan said that she did not have much money and
that she had just finished work in a building located one block
from the crime site.
The thug, however, kept on asking for money. "We need money so
we can eat," he said.
Fearing for her life, Pingkan pulled out a Rp 20,000 bill from
her purse and gave it to the men, who immediately let the taxi
go.
The two incidents are just some of the frightening encounters
with the omnipresent thugs in the capital.
Thugs are virtually everywhere in the city of some 12 million
people. Shopping centers, markets, malls, hospitals, traffic
lights and even housing complexes are common places for thugs to
operate, who freely extort money from people.
Traders at both modern and traditional markets in the capital
are required to pay protection money of between Rp 5,000 and Rp
25,000 per day, depending on what they sell, to thugs operating
in their area.
The city administration, police and military launched a month-
long campaign against thugs two weeks ago across the capital and
have so far arrested close to 1,000 hoodlums. None of them,
however, have been charged.
Experts doubt, however, that the move could wipe out thugs
from the city, saying that the drive would only force them to go
underground and return when the operation was over. (004)