CCTV Recorded, Charity Box Thief In Mosque Only Leaves Coins

Charity box thief caught on CCTV / Screen capture

JAKARTA - Jami Baiturrahim Mosque charity box on Jalan Tanjung, RT 08/05, Ciracas District, East Jakarta was burglarized. As a result, hundreds of thousands of dollars were lost.

Secretary of the Mosque Prosperity Council (DKM) Jami Baiturrahim, Puryono (60) said the incident occurred at around 22.23 WIB.

"Tracked by CCTV footage, at 22:23 WIB, on Sunday, November 21, someone entered the mosque," said Puryono, Tuesday, November 23.

Puryono said that he rechecked the CCTV footage on Monday, November 22, yesterday, because he was confused that the money in the mosque's charity box had disappeared. There were only a few pennies left.

"Initially, I monitored the Isha prayer on Sunday, the charity box still had money, so the next day, right after the dawn prayer, how come the charity box has no money," he said.

Seen from CCTV footage installed at several points in the mosque area, the perpetrator acted alone. He entered through the door to the women's restroom area, then went up the stairs provided there.

Then, at 22.31 WIB, the perpetrator was seen on the second floor of the mosque in a condition still observing the situation. One minute later, the perpetrators immediately broke the lock of the charity box.

It is suspected that the perpetrator used the letter T key to break into the safety box of the charity.

"He looks very relaxed, calm like that, if he is not a trained person, he must be nervous about opening up like that," he said.

Surprisingly, after destroying the safety box of the charity, the perpetrator did not immediately steal the money, but he sat down first as if he was doing remembrance after praying. According to Puryono, this was just a ploy by the perpetrators to ensure that conditions were under control.

"Yes, maybe waiting for the right moment to take the money, because here there are still a lot of motorbikes and cars passing by, I'm afraid that if there is a motorbike sound, people might want to pray or something. If there is no sound of the motorbike, it means it's quiet, so the situation is safe That's why he immediately executed," he explained.

After feeling safe, the perpetrator immediately took the money from the congregation's donation that was in the charity box, then put it in his jacket pocket. Then the perpetrators exit through the same path. The perpetrators were seen leaving the mosque on foot.

"(The stolen money) Between IDR 300 thousand and IDR 500 thousand, that's the money that the congregation earns every day, right if the congregation prays Fajr Zuhur, Asar, Magrib, or Isha prayers when they come home they like to give charity," he said.

Puryono added that the perpetrator was wearing a gray long-sleeved shirt, wearing a jeans jacket and black trousers. According to him, this is the second time there has been an act of stealing charity boxes at the Baiturrahim Jami Mosque. "Twice, before, the children from this neighborhood were stubborn kids, only if the first one didn't have CCTV installed, so we don't know. Now it's recorded," he said.

However, for now, Puryono admitted that he would coordinate with all the administrators of the Baiturrahim Jami Mosque regarding the investigation into this theft case.