Two shot dead by police

JAKARTA (JP): Police shot dead two men Wednesday in Central Jakarta and Bogor, bringing the number of alleged criminals shot in the city and surrounding areas to 65 this year.

Central Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. M. Ibrahim said Johan Malik, 32, was shot dead in a house on Jl. Suprapto, in Cempaka Putih in the early morning.

"Malik was shot because he tried to attack a police officer with a sickle. He died with two shot wounds to the head and chest," Ibrahim said.

He said the police had been searching for Malik for his involvement in several robberies of bank customers since last year.

Ibrahim said the suspect and his accomplice robbed a bank customer of Rp 75 million (US$31,250) in February last year on Jl. Kenari, after deflating a tire of the victim's car.

On May 7, Malik robbed a bank customer of Rp 3 million on Jl. Kramat Raya in front of the Ridwan Rais Hospital.

He said the suspect also robbed a Standard Chartered Bank customer of US$10,000 in October on Jl. Salemba.

Meanwhile, City Police spokesman E. Aritonang said police shot dead Zulfi Assegaf alias Zulfikar for resisting arrest in Nagrak, Cileungsi, Bogor in the early morning. Two warning shots had been fired when Zulfikar tried to escape, he said.

He said Zulfikar, a resident of Jl. Anil, in Pondok Gede, Bekasi, had been involved in several car thefts.

The police seized a computer, traffic police stamp equipment, and two credit cards from the suspect when he was arrested last week.

Aritonang earlier said 15 percent of shot suspects had survived. (jun/cst)