Trader finds body of minivan worker

JAKARTA (JP): An assistant to a minivan driver was found dead with severe head wounds at Tebet market in South Jakarta early yesterday.

The victim, identified as Jhoni Situmorang, 25, was believed to have been killed from blunt weapons, said Chief Sergeant Yoseph of the Tebet Police Sub Precinct.

"However, the case is still being investigated," he said.

Jhoni's body was found at 4:30 a.m. laying on the edge of a street in the market by a trader.

Officer Yoseph said that the victim had lived with friends in a house they rented together on Jl. Swadaya I in Poltangan, Jagakarsa.

One of his housemates, Tatang, said he saw Jhoni for the last time at a small drinking stall near their house on the previous evening.

"He was drunk, as usual, and I saw him chatting with two young men," he said.

The stall is frequented by many drivers of minivans and ojek (motorcycle taxis) who relax there before going home after work.

Tatang, however, said that he did not know the two young men with Jhoni.

The three, he said, became involved in a serious conversation and later left to talk somewhere near the shop.

"They seemed to have known each other well," said Tatang.

"Their conversation was in the Batak ethnic language, so I even thought that the two were relatives from his hometown in North Sumatra," he added.

Tatang, thinking that nothing was out of the ordinary, said he left the area when Jhoni departed with the other men.

He only learned about Jhoni's death when he came to the same drinking stall on the next day and heard customers there talking about his friend's body found in Tebet market, which is about a 30-minute drive from Poltangan.

He then rushed to the Cipto Mangunkusumo General Hospital to identify the body.

"I'll represent his family because he came to Jakarta alone and never told us about his family or relatives," said Tatang. (04)