Don't Be Careless When You Ride Public Transportation, Pickpocket Gang Often In Action

JAKARTA - Polda Metro Jaya arrested two pickpockets who specialize in city transportation (angkot) on the Tanah Abang-Kota route with the initials TH (21) and R (30). The perpetrator stole the passengers' belongings. public transportation since mid-2020.

Apart from the two perpetrators, the police are still hunting down another one known to have the initials T.

"Usually they enter the public transportation together to look for the target. Two people play a role in distracting the victim, there are many modes that he does either from asking questions then the other one is taking the victim's belongings in the bag," said Head of Public Relations of Polda Metro Jaya, Kombes Yusri. Yunus quoted Antara, Friday, April 16.

The victim of the pickpocket flock then reported the disaster experienced to Polda Metro Jaya which was then forwarded to the Mobile Detective Sub-Directorate for follow-up.

The officers conducted an investigation that led to the perpetrators' boarding house in Tegal Alur, Kalideres, West Jakarta.

The police then carried out an ambush and managed to arrest TH and R on April 6, 2021, but one perpetrator with the initials T managed to escape from the officers' attack.

The TH and R perpetrators were then taken by officers for intensive interrogation and the perpetrators admitted that they did not remember exactly how many pickpockets they had because they acted too often.

"If you are asked how many times, you forget that there are enough," said Yusri.

The officers also examined a number of police reports in a similar fashion and found quite a number of cases of pickpocketing in city transportation that were suspected of being perpetrated by the perpetrator.

"Quite a lot, including the Tanah Abang TKP on March 27, 2021, Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, April 5 on public transportation, there were also 3 times in March, and this February we are still exploring it again," said Yusri.

The two suspects were charged under Article 363 of the Criminal Code concerning theft with the threat of 7 years in prison.

The police appealed to residents who had been victims of pickpocketing on public transportation to report to the police. Because the reports of the victims will really help the police to find other pickpockets who are very disturbing to the community.

"We appeal to the people who take the urban angkot (public transportation) in Tanah Abang who have felt lost and have been victims to come here for us to develop," concluded Yusri.