Two men arrested from kidnapping syndicate

Two men arrested from kidnapping syndicate

JAKARTA (JP): Police have arrested two men in connection with
a crime ring that kidnapped women from bus terminals in Jakarta
and elsewhere after luring them away with promises of employment.

The two were arrested by police agents on Saturday together
with a total of 31 women, aged between 13 and 35, some of whom
had been locked up for almost a month at a semi-permanent
building which also functions as the offices of a foundation in
West Jakarta.

But the arrest of the suspects was only announced by police on
Monday, as they feared an immediate announcement would disrupt
the investigation of other members of the syndicate.

All of the 32, who had aspired to move to Jakarta from West
and Central Java, were in good condition and will be sent back to
their hometowns on Monday at the cost of the police, spokesman
for the National Police Headquarters Col. Hari Sutanto told
reporters.

Meanwhile, national police investigators are still looking for
the other members of the group and the motives behind their
activities.

The girls were picked up by the suspects at bus terminals at
their hometowns as well as in city bus stations, Hari said.

Most of the victims said they returned to Jakarta from their
hometowns after the Idul Fitri holidays to find work in the city.

After a short conversation, the group members tried to tease
or even force the young females to go with them saying that they
had jobs available for people like them.

The two suspects, identified as Waldemar Napitupulu, 45, and
Pergok Simatupang, 40, was arrested Saturday at Yayasan Manggaris
(Manggaris Foundation) on Jl. Jembatan Besi Number 33 in Jembatan
Besi, West Jakarta.

Acting on information from a woman who escaped from her
captors on Friday, police arrested the two on Saturday at the
foundation office which also served as their "detention center."

The rural girls said that some had been put in the building
for about a week, while others for about a month, said Lt. Col.
Hasyim Irianto at the National Police Investigation Unit.

Although the girls were not allowed to leave the building,
they were still given food by the suspects and their men.

"They gave us meal twice a day but sometimes some of the group
members hit us with their hands for unknown reasons," said Umi,
16, a resident of Purbalingga, Central Java, who was picked up by
the group at the Grogol bus terminal.

Torture

Umi, however, confessed that none of them had been tortured or
raped during their ordeal.

Deputy Head of the investigation unit for general affairs, Lt.
Col. Mochammad Arifin Rachmat, who accompanied Hasyim and Hari at
the press meeting, said that the syndicate might consist of a
large number of people in the city and many towns in West and
Central Java.

"We need to intensively investigate the syndicates main
motives and find out their precise ring members," Arifin said.

Spokesman Hari said that if the suspects were found guilty,
they might face a maximum imprisonment of eight years as
stipulated in Article 333 of the existing Criminal Code for
kidnapping.

Based on the questioning, the two suspects said that they paid
the men who brought the women to them house between Rp 35,000
(US$16.35) and Rp 45,000 ($21) per person, Hasyim said.

"The suspects collected Rp 80,000 ($37.40) per girl from a
person who employ the girls as housemaids," he added. (bsr)