Two bandits gunned down in separate operations

JAKARTA (JP): Police shot to death two criminals in two separate places in West Jakarta within 10 minutes.

The first criminal to be gunned down on Sunday night in a sudden raid was identified as Peter, 22, Pos Kota reported quoting police sources.

Peter, a notorious recidivist long wanted by police for various law-breaking activities, including murders and hold-ups, was shot by a member of the detective team of the Tambora police precinct on Jl. Jembatan Besi around midnight.

The criminal, whose body was laden with tattoos, died instantly, the daily said.

Police spotted Peter following a tipoff that he was drinking beer together with several friends at a street-side shop on Jl. Jembatan Besi.

When police approached him Peter did not resist arrest, but managed to escape on the way to the nearby police station. He ignored several warning shots and kept running before a detective shot him in the neck.

Area residents rushed to the scene upon hearing the gunshots. Some of them told police that Peter was well known as a feared street hoodlum, a troublemaker who often extorted money from them at knife point. They appeared relieved that police managed to kill him.

Just 10 minutes after Peter's death, another group of detectives shot to death an unidentified criminal who was caught in the act of robbing a bajaj passenger near a railway crossing on Jl. Tubagus Angke.

Police shot him in the stomach after the thug resisted arrest by lunging at a policeman with a knife in his hand. (bas)