Two other criminals shot to death by city police
JAKARTA (JP): City Police Headquarters added two more names to the list of criminal suspects shot to death yesterday, bringing the total to 60 victims in the last four months.
The two suspects were gunned down in separate places for different offenses in the wee hours of the morning yesterday.
Jupri, 20, was shot in the back at 1:30 p.m. at the Wijaya Kesuma area in Grogol Utara, West Jakarta. The suspect, whose body was covered with tattoos, died instantly.
Police said Jupri was a notorious hold-up man and bicycle thief in the area.
He was jailed three months for stealing a bike in 1990 and, since then, had allegedly committed a series of similar criminal acts.
During the wee hours yesterday, Jupri was asked by the local police to show the whereabouts of six accomplices with whom he was believed to have stolen a bicycle.
However, the suspect tried to escape by running into the dark of night at the Wijaya Kesuma area. He was gunned down after ignoring two warning shots, police said.
An hour later, police shot M. Makmun, 32, in the leg, back and head, when he tried to escape from a police patrol car on Jl. Baru, Duren Sawit, in East Jakarta.
Reportedly, police arrested him minutes earlier at a drinking stall in Cipinang Muara, loaded him into a police car and made for a nearby police station. However, one of the car's tires had a blow out on the way and Makmun was said to have made an attempt to escape when the police got out to fix it.
The police spokesman added that the notorious recidivist ignored the warning shots fired by the officers.
Police said that Makmun had been in jail several times for various criminal activities which included assault, grand theft auto and other acts of larceny.
He was arrested in the early morning yesterday for stealing a car in Cipinang Muara.
APEC
According to City Police spokesman Lt. Col. A. Latief Rabar, all police officers are allowed by law to gun down suspects who try to escape.
Before firing a warning shot, he said, the police officer has to shout out at the suspect and urge him to stop running.
According to a report, police have shot at least 60 suspected criminals in the past four months in and around the city. Out of the number, 40 were killed.
In the past three days, for example, at least six criminals have been shot to death by city police.
In the next two months, Indonesia is scheduled to host the 17- nation Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Bogor, 60 kilometers south of here.
The meeting in November is expected to be attended by a number of heads of state, including U.S. President Bill Clinton.
When asked whether the recent raids on criminals in the city has anything to do with police effort to keep order during the upcoming APEC forum, Latief smiled and replied: "Now, why would you link it (the raids) with the meeting?" (bsr)