Unidentified men attack police officer

JAKARTA (JP): A police sergeant from the On-Alert Unit at Jakarta Police Headquarters was beaten and stabbed in the neck by two unidentified men at a small park near his house in Pasar Rebo, East Jakarta, late Monday.

The wounded officer, Second Sgt. Yudi Supriyanto, was on his way home from his office on Jl. Sudirman in South Jakarta when the incident took place, Jakarta Police spokesman Lt. Col. Zainuri Lubis said on Tuesday.

Lubis said the incident occurred at about 11:30 p.m. when the uniformed Yudi disembarked from a public bus at the busy Kramatjati market on Jl. Raya Bogor.

Lubis said as Yudi passed Fatahillah park near the market, two men stopped and asked him to identify which unit he worked for.

Yudi told the two that he was a member of the city police's On-Alert Unit and was on his way home, Lubis said.

The two men allegedly abruptly kicked him causing the victim to slump onto the ground, Lubis said.

As Yudi attempted to get up, one of the men pulled out a dagger and stabbed his neck, Lubis said.

The two men then fled the scene after allegedly screaming that they had been robbed by a police officer, Lubis said.

Alerted by the screams, passersby rushed to the park and found the officer had fainted from the attack. Blood was seen by witnesses on his uniform, Lubis said.

Yudi was taken to a nearby medical clinic by local residents. He was transferred later to Soekanto police hospital, where he was still receiving medical treatment.

The dagger allegedly used to stab Yudi was left by the suspects at the scene. Police detectives, who combed the area later, seized the dagger as evidence for their investigation.

As of Tuesday afternoon, police had not progressed further in their identification of the two alleged criminals. (emf)