Two alleged robbers shot dead, one seriously hurt in Bogor

BOGOR (JP): Police ambushed a seven-member gang of alleged robbers on Wednesday morning, killing two of the men, severely injuring one and slightly wounding the others.

Head of the Bogor police precinct Lt. Col. Edmond Ilyas said on Thursday that police officers were forced to open fire on the gang at the Hotel 88 in Cisarua district after they resisted arrest.

"We gave warning shots and urged them to surrender. However, they insisted on trying to escape by breaking the hotel's windows. Some of them even attacked the officers with daggers.

"Therefore, we shot them."

Edmond identified the dead as Lamsaut Galingging, 26, and Pardamean Harahap, 28, both of whom sustained gunshot wounds to the head. Their bodies were sent to PMI Bogor Hospital.

Severely injured was Robinson Sitorus, 28, shot in the abdomen. He was treated at Kramat Jati Hospital in East Jakarta, Edmond said.

Wounded were Erdin Hasibuan, 26, Arifin Siregar, 29, Muhamad Harahap, 29 and Januar Sianturi, 35.

Edmond explained the police moved in on the robbers at 7 a.m. after they allegedly robbed a home in Serpong, Tangerang, at about 4:30 a.m.

Police found items from the burglary, still stored in a Kijang van, of a Sony VCD player with 15 VCDs, a Fuji camera, 100 grams of gold bracelets and necklaces and an Alba wristwatch, he said.

Police also seized equipment used in the robberies, including three flashlights, two rolls of masking tape, three sickles, three daggers, five machetes and a calculator.

"The injured members of the group admitted that they conducted four robberies in the Bogor area during the Ramadhan fasting month," he said.

Capt. Wahyu Hadiningrat, head of the police precinct's detective unit, said the gang used a common robbery method of targeting the victim's house, breaking down its door by force, cutting the telephone line, threatening the home owners and locking them in a room.

"They did not hesitate to wound their victims," Wahyu said, showing a machete with a blood stain.

Edmond said most of the gang were repeat offenders. "One of them had even committed 17 robberies in Bogor, Tangerang and Bandung."

Most committed burglaries within two weeks of their release form jail, he said. "We hope such criminals get heavier punishment in line with the violent offenses they commit." (24/hhr)