Thief of Textbooks Weighing 12 Tons at 37 Indramayu Schools Arrested by Police

Three thieves and textbook collectors in Indramayu, West Java, Tuesday (10/1/2023). BETWEEN/Khaerul Izan

INDRAMAYU - The Indramayu Police, West Java, arrested a thief and two textbook handlers in 37 schools. The result was that 12 tons of textbooks were sold by the perpetrators.

"We arrested a thief and two people who handled textbooks at 37 schools", said Indramayu Police Chief AKBP Fahri Siregar, reported by ANTARA, Tuesday, January 10.

The perpetrator of the theft of textbooks at the school with the initials CR was involved in acting alone by breaking down classroom windows and doors in 37 schools.

According to him, the theft of textbooks was carried out from November 2022 to December 2022, during which time textbooks were taken from 37 schools in Indramayu Regency.

Apart from textbooks, he said, the suspect CR also took as many as 22 units of cell phones of various brands from the classrooms and teachers in the 37 schools.

"This perpetrator acted alone by prying the locks and classroom doors, then draining the existing textbooks by taking them in a car", he said.

The books he stole were then sold to two US and WR investors by weighing them, where a price per kilogram was IDR 2,500 per kilogram.

According to him, the total number of books stolen by the perpetrators reached 12 tons. Meanwhile, from the victim's statement, in this case, the Indramayu Regency Education Office, the loss reached more than IDR 800 million.

As a result of his actions, the suspect CR was subject to Article 363 of the Criminal Code with a maximum prison sentence of seven years in prison, while the other two suspects namely AS and WR were charged with Articles 480 and 481 of the Criminal Code with a threat of imprisonment of four to seven years.

"We also confiscated several pieces of evidence including two cars, dozens of cell phones, and also several textbooks", he said.