Police Arrest 4 Thieves In Makassar Dating Application Service Mode

MAKASSAR - As many as four teenagers suspected of being robbers who carried out their actions with the motive of using a dating application to ensnare the victims were arrested by the police.

"There are four suspects each with the initials MA (16), MI (17), I (17), and MR (17). All of them are still teenagers," said Manggala Police Chief Kompol Supriady Idrus, in Makassar, South Sulawesi, quoted by Antara, Tuesday, November 9th.

The perpetrators' mode is to use the We Chat dating application by posting photos of women who are attractive to potential victims, so they are lured into contacting them.

After a conversation took place until a tariff and date location were agreed, the perpetrators began to make plans to wait for their potential victims. One of the victims was eventually trapped and successfully injured and rushed to Bhayangkara Hospital.

"There are already victims. Their mode is using a dating application to deceive the victim with the COD or BO (Booking, ed) system. The perpetrator invites the victim to meet at one of the scene, the aim is to take cellphones and goods and injure the victim," said Supriady.

The incident took place at Canal Inspection Street, Borong, Bitowa Village, Manggala District on Sunday, November 7 at around 01.30 WITA. The victim is known to have the initials ZA (22). At that time, the victim was already waiting at the scene, but instead of a woman, three men came.

The perpetrators then approached the victim holding a bow with arrows, and forced him to ask for his cellphone, but the victim did not give it up, then realized he had been framed. The perpetrator immediately fired his bow at the victim and hit the right side of the waist, after which he immediately fled.

Luckily, a Vespa motorcycle community helped the victim, so he was taken to Bhayangkara Hospital for medical treatment, then reported the incident to the local police.

"So this victim was hit by an arrow in the right waist and has been treated at the Bhayangkara Hospital. Coincidentally, their action was caught on CCTV, so the culprit was known," he said.

The four perpetrators were arrested at Jalan Inspeksi Bitowa Canal in the early hours of Tuesday. The location of the arrest is known as the place where the perpetrator carried out his action.

The police are after two other perpetrators, each A and AD. The three perpetrators will be charged with Article 365 paragraph 2 and Article 351 paragraph 1 of the Criminal Code concerning theft with violence and or torture. Two slingshots and four arrows were seized as evidence.