BTS Telkomsel Battery Thief Gang Worth Tens Of Millions In Barito Kuala Arrested

Barito Kuala Police Chief AKBP Diaz Sasongko. (ANTARA/Firman)

BARITO KUALA - A member of the Barito Kuala (Batola) Police, South Kalimantan, arrested a gang of specialist battery thieves "base tracer station" (BTS) belonging to telecommunications service operator PT Telkomsel which is known to have acted in a number of cross-provincial areas.

"Ada lima pelaku ditangkap yaitu berinisialAS (39), IR (29), AF (34), MS (34) dan AM (41) pada Minggu (30/4) di lokasi terpisah di Kota Banjarmasin dan Kabupaten Banjar," kata Kapolres Barito Kuala AKBP Diaz Sasongko di Marabahan dilansir ANTARA, Senin, 1 Mei.

The police are hunting for the perpetrators after Telkomsel on Saturday (29/4) reported the loss of four lithium battery blocks in the BTS tower of PT Dayamitra Telekomunikasi Tbk or Mitratel in Handil 4 Jejangkit Pasar Village, Jejangkit District, Barito Kuala Regency with an estimated loss of IDR 62 million.

The Jejangkit Police, who received the report, immediately coordinated with the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Barito Kuala Police to conduct an investigation.

After it was discovered the whereabouts of the alleged perpetrator, a joint team from the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Jejangkit Police and the Opsnal Unit of the Criminal Investigation Unit of the Barito Kuala Police (Macan Bahalap) assisted by the South Banjarmasin Police managed to apprehend four suspects in the South Banjarmasin District area.

Meanwhile, one AM perpetrator was arrested at a hiding place in the Paku Alam Village area, Sungai Tabuk District, Banjar Regency with the help of the Sungai Tabuk Police.

This gang claimed to have stolen BTS batteries at 17 different locations in South Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan.

Diaz said Batola Police members were still developing to explore the possibility of other perpetrators being involved in the theft case.

Meanwhile, the five suspects who were arrested at the Batola Police, were charged with Article 363 of the Criminal Code concerning theft with a weighted penalty of seven years in prison.