A POLICEMAN SHOT AGAIN

By Andi Abdussalam

Jakarta, Sept 14 (Antara) - While police are still investigating a series of shootings of police officers in at least four Jakarta locations, yet another policeman was shot in Depok near Jakarta on Friday evening.          Attacks on policemen have been taking place in the past three months. The latest attacks included one on Friday evening on First Brigadir Ruslan Kusuma in Cimanggis, Depok, a Jakarta satellite town in the east.         This followed an earlier attack on Tuesday in Jalan Rasuna Said, Kuningan, South Jakarta, where Chief Brig Sukardi was shot dead.         The shooting of First Brigadier Ruslan Kusuma took place when the police were preparing a separate team to investigate the Kuningan attack. One team has been investigating shooting incidents at three locations in South Tangerang.            South Tangerang is part of Banten  province, though much closer to the capital city, as it is located in the western suburbs of Jakarta.         "This is a separate team from the one that is probing the three recent shooting cases in Ciputat (two cases) and in Pondok Aren," National Police Chief Gen. Timur Pradopo said on Thursday.          Pondok Aren and Ciputat are also located in South Tangerang.          Yet, the special team is still conducting the investigation; while another incident has taken place with the shooting of Brigadier Ruslam in Depok. This time, police believe the motive for Ruslan¿s shooting was economic.          "The motive of Ruslan's shooting was economic. This can be seen from the fact that the assailant made off with the victim¿s motorcycle," Head of Police Headquarters- Public Relations Division Insp. Gen Ronny F. Sompie said on Friday night.          Brigadier Ruslan was shot when he was trying to prevent four attackers from stealing his Kawasaki Ninja motorcycle at a motorcycle washing facility in Jalan Raya Pekapuran, Cimanggis, Depok on Friday evening.          Ruslan was rushed to Sentra Medical hospital in Cimanggis, Depok, for treatment before he was transferred to East Jakarta Kramat Jati Police Hospital. He had been shot in the knee.          Depok police are now seeking to arrest those responsible, whose identities officials say they know. "We have known them, now we are now chasing them down," Head of Depok's City Police Headquarters, Snr Comnr Achmad Kartiko, said.          According to Insp. Gen Ronny F. Sompie, Ruslan's case is different from that of Chief Brigadier Sukardi. "It has no link with that of Sukardi. This is an attempt to seize a motorcycle," he said. Sukardi has since been posthumously promoted to second inspector general.          Perpetrators of the Ruslan case could be charged with Article 365 of the Criminal Code on theft and violence, while in the case of Sukardi, the perpetrators could be charged with violating Article 340 and Article 338 on premeditated murder.          Earlier, police said they were setting up two teams to investigate the shootings in the Kuningan (Sukardi) incidents and those at three other locations in South Tangerang.          Chief Brig. Sukardi, a police officer commissioned with the provost division of the National Police, was shot dead on Tuesday night by an unidentified gunman in front of the Corruption Eradication Commission office at Rasuna Said Street, Kuningan, South Jakarta.          The police are trying to develop sketches of the perpetrators based upon information provided by eyewitnesses and images captured on Closed-Circuit Television cameras.          Police Chief Gen Timur Pradopo revealed that bullet shells found from the crime scene in Kuningan were different than those found at the locations of three shooting incidents that took place earlier.          "In Pondok Aren and Ciputat, the bullets found were of 4.5 mm caliber, while in Kuningan, 9mm-caliber bullets were found," he explained.          Pradopo stated that 11 witnesses had been questioned in connection with the shooting incident in Kuningan, and a special team had been conducting an in-depth investigation.          "Apart from the team that is investigating the three earlier incidents in which the suspects are already know, we have set up another team to focus exclusively on the latest incident. We are still collecting information from witnesses," he said.          Besides basing its investigation on the CCTV recording, Pradopo continued, the team was also examining the projectiles found at the crime scene.          "We are not yet sure about the type of gun from which these projectiles were fired. We are analyzing them all, including the CCTV recording," he added.          Many shooting incidents involving attacks on police personnel have occurred in the recent past.  On August 7, an unidentified gunman shot dead First Adjunct Inspector Dwiatno from the Cilandak sub-precinct police station in Ciputat, South Tangerang municipality, Banten province.          The police officer, posted at the Community Development Unit of the Cilandak sub-precinct police station in South Jakarta, was shot at 5:00 in the morning, said Police Commissioner Sungkono, chief of the Cilandak sub-precinct police station, later in the day.          On the same day, an unidentified person shot a worker at Wirogunan prison in Yogyakarta.          Earlier, on July 27, two motorcyclists fired at Second Adjunct Inspector Saktiyono, from the Traffic Unit at Central Jakarta Police, at 4.30 in the morning on Cirendeu Road in Ciputat.          Apart from police officers, assailants have also targeted public locations to spread terror among the public.          As early as August 8 this year, unidentified gunmen aboard a minibus opened fire at a Transjakarta bus shelter on the bridge at Cawang Station in Jalan MT Haryono, East Jakarta, at 1.30 am.          On August 13, a police officer's residence in Banjar Wijaya, a housing complex in Tangerang, Banten province, was also attacked by an unidentified person.          National Intelligence Agency (BIN) chief Marciano Norman pointed out that the attacks were made by members of the same group with the intention of spreading terror.          Following the shooting death of Sukardi, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono expressed concern. "He knows about the incident that occurred last night and has deplored it. The coordinating minister for political, security and legal affairs, I think, has issued a formal statement about it, representing the government. The government has deplored the incident and sent his condolences to the family," presidential spokesman Julian Aldrin Pasah said on Wednesday.          He noted that the President has urged the national police chief, along with his officers, to continue maintaining order and security. "The police should catch the perpetrators and understand their motives, because although the national police chief has not yet spoken about last night¿s shooting, similar incidents have occurred before. At the time, the president also ordered the national police chief to continue his tasks to assure public security," he said.          The Indonesian National Police has urged the public to remain calm, following the spate of shooting incidents which resulted in the death of police personnel.          "We urge the people to be confident and rely on (the police). They should not be afraid of such cases (terror),"  said Inspector General Ronny F. Sompie on Wednesday.***2*** (T.A014/INE/o001) (EDITED BY INE)    (T.A014/A/BESSR/O. Tamindael) 14-09-2013 12:51:5