Vendor killed in Bongkaran

JAKARTA (JP): A police officer shot to death yesterday a hoodlum who killed a street vendor for refusing to give him money in the notorious red-light district of Bongkaran, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta.

Central Jakarta Police Chief Lt. Col. Abubakar Nataprawira said that the officer had to shoot Imanuel, 25, who resisted arrest just after killing Mawi, a street vendor, last night.

He said Imanuel and his friends, identified as Herman alias Hery, and Dadang, asked each vendor operating in the area for Rp 6,000 (US$2.50).

They beat vendors who refused their demand. Mawi tried to help his friends fight the hoodlums, Abubakar said. "But Imanuel stabbed the 60-year-old street vendor, Mawi, in the head," he said. Mawi died on the way to the Cipto Mangunkusumo general hospital.

Police officers patrolling the area tried to stop the fight and arrest the hoodlums but they resisted arrest.

Imanuel was shot in the neck and leg, and Hery was arrested.

Another gang member, Dadang is still at large, Abubakar said (jun)