One Dead, Eight Wounded After Weekend of Jakarta Biker Gang Attacks

April 09, 2012


A wave of bloody attacks by motorcycle gangs left one dead and eight wounded in Jakarta over the weekend as police scramble to crack down what is becoming a growing problem in many Indonesian cities.

Four teenagers were attacked while riding their motorcycles on Jalan Danau Sunter in North Jakarta early Saturday morning, police said. Soleh, 17, was killed in the fight. Three of his friends, Zaenal, 19, Reza, 16, and Ardin, 19, suffered injuries.

The four were reportedly riding their motorcycles after watching illegal street races in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta.

Less than 24 hours later, a gang of bikers attacked another group of riders on Jalan Benyamin Sueb in Kemayoran. Five were stabbed and a motorcycle was torched in the melee, police said.

In both instances, the attackers allegedly wore white marks under their eyes, police said.

“Investigators have found an indication that the groups committing the attacks in Sunter and Kemayoran are connected,” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said in Jakarta on Monday.

Police responded by forming a special investigative team with officers from precincts in North and Central Jakarta to look into the incidents. Police suspect the attacks were motivated by revenge and related to Jakarta's underground street racing scene.

Biker gangs have become a pressing concern in many Indonesian cities, spurred, in part, by the popularity of motorcycles. The members are frequently involved in seemingly random and, at times, fatal mob attacks, police said.

On Thursday, another gang of bikers killed Rahmad Gunawan Nasution, a member of a rival gang, in front of Plaza II Pondok Indah Mall in South Jakarta. The alleged leader of that attack, Azwar Anas, has been arrested by police.

Police did not say whether the motorcycle gangs in South Jakarta are related to those operating in Central and North Jakarta.


(x the JG)

April 13, 2012


A motorcycle gang of as much as 200 people launched attacks in three different locations in Jakarta early on Friday morning, killing one innocent bystander and leaving at least seven others injured.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said the group, armed with cleavers and wooden sticks, among other things, first arrived on Jalan RE Martadinata in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, at about 1:30 a.m. and began attacking bystanders.

Police identified two of the injured as Nachrowi, 17, Ramdani, 23, who were both stabbed, and Tuherman Widodo, 24, who was badly beaten.

The group then traveled south and arrived on Jalan Masjid Akbar in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, at 2 a.m., where they launched another attack.

Rahman Al Awe, 25, who was hanging around the area with his friends, suffered stab injuries to his head, arms and back. He was rushed to hospital.

The gang also stole a motorcycle.

They then arrived at Seven Eleven convenience store on Jalan Salemba Raya in Central Jakarta at 2.30 a.m., where they again targeted innocent bystanders before taking valuables, including mobile phones, and damaging the shop and motorcycles in the area.

The injured were identified as Roby, 21, Ade Firmanto, 20, and Ramadan, 23, who suffered stab wounds.

Anggi Darmawan was stabbed to death.

Anggi died after being admitted to Cempaka Putih Islamic Hospital in East Jakarta, according to vivanews.com.

Rikwanto said the gang randomly targeted people.

“The targets are people hanging around; they are considered common enemies. [The gang] aims only at disrupting [public order],” he said.

“There were between 100 and 200 of them. We haven’t analyzed whether this is an old motorcycle gang or not. We suspect that there is connection with the previous attacks some time ago.”

Just last week, three motorcycle gang attacks in Pondok Indah, South Jakarta, and Kemayoran left two dead and about a dozen injured. It remains unclear whether they were from the same group.

BeritaSatu/JG

April 14, 2012


The Jakarta Police and military have deployed 250 officers in an all-out pursuit of a motorcycle gang believed to be behind a series of attacks this week that left two people dead and at least nine more seriously injured.

“There are between 150 and 200 perpetrators using dozens of motorcycles,” Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto said on Friday, adding that based on witness reports, the group’s members were wearing yellow ribbons on their left wrists and were armed with wooden clubs and machetes.

Police suspect that some gang members might be members of the Indonesian Navy, he said, adding that the death last month of enlisted Navy Seaman Arifin Sirih, 25, may have been responsible for setting off the violence.

Last Saturday, one person was killed and three injured outside a gas station near Lake Sunter in North Jakarta. On Sunday, five people were injured in an attack in Kemayoran. Both attacks were believed to be retaliation for Arifin’s murder, Rikwanto said.

Early on Friday morning, in an unprecedented rampage, the gang attacked seven different locations across Central and North Jakarta.

At 1.30 a.m., the gang set upon a group of youths near the Tanjung Priok port in North Jakarta. Two area security guards identified as Zaenal Arifin and Heri Susanto were badly injured.

A local police station was the next stop, where 10 minutes later the mob stabbed a bystander, 17 year-old Nachrowi, who was standing just 30 meters from the station. Nachrowi is now in critical condition at the Koja State Hospital.

The group also attacked Ramdani, 20, who suffered lacerations on his head and left arm, before they rolled out to another location where they left Tohirman Awidodo, 25, badly bruised with injuries to his face and head.

Thirty minutes later, they attacked a group of youths at a 7-Eleven convenience store in Salemba, Central Jakarta. Two teenagers, Ade Kirmawan and Robi, were injured while three motorcycles were destroyed.

The carnage did not stop there. The gang attacked two passersby on Jalan Pramuka in Central Jakarta at 3 a.m. Hendi Aharyanto was stabbed while Anggi Darmawan, 19, suffered several blows to her head and died later at the hospital without ever regaining consciousness.

Two alleged gang members were shot at 2:30 a.m. on Jalan Pramuka by unidentified assailants using a Toyota Yaris car. Witnesses said the car fled the scene, speeding off to Rawasari before entering the toll road in Rawamangun, East Jakarta. Police identified the two who were shot as Second Pvt. Akbar Fidi Aldian and Seaman Sugeng Riyadi.

Navy spokesman Rear Adm. Untung Surapati confirmed that both men were members of the Navy but declined to comment on whether the two were involved in gang-related activities.

“When it comes to crime, we’ll leave it to the police,” he said.

Rikwanto said police were coordinating with the Navy’s military police unit to track down the gang members and determine the motive for the attacks.

A source close to the case said Arifin had indeed been a member of the gang and was killed by the rival Yagen gang, based in Cilincing, North Jakarta.

“They have been wanting to avenge his death,” the source told the Globe. Police are on high alert for possible retaliatory attacks by the Yagen gang.


(this x the JG)

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | Sat, 04/14/2012 6:03 PM


The Indonesia Police Watch (IPW) has urged the Jakarta Police to move fast in tackling the biker gangs that allegedly involve certain soldiers. He said the police should coordinate with the Jakarta Military Command (Kodam Jaya) to seek out the perpetrators.

“This is the time to put an end to the brutality that has been savagely displayed by these gang members. If there is a soldier who is involved, then he should be brought to justice as well,” Neta said in a press release sent on Saturday as quoted by tribunnews.com.

The latest attack perpetrated by the biker gangs claimed the life of Anggi Darmawan and injured several others. The biker gangs had also vandalized a 7-Eleven fast food restaurant Friday morning and attacked three other restaurant customers.

It was widely reported that most of the biker gang members shared similar appearances, such as crew cuts and athletic bodies. Some had suspected that these alleged gang members were actually a group of troops who sought revenge over the death of their fellow soldier several days ago, who allegedly died at the hands of a group of youngsters.


(this from the JP)

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta/Tangerang Mon, 16/04/2012


A police watchdog group says the Jakarta Police are responsible for the spate of violence involving biker gangs in the capital that has left at least three people dead and 15 injured.

“Police inaction on the existence of motorcycle gangs has triggered social conflicts and vigilante acts, such as happened on Friday,” Indonesian Police Watch (IPW) chairman Neta S. Pane said, referring to one person who was slain and the eight injured in seven different incidents in North and Central Jakarta on Friday.

Neta urged the police to maintain continuous patrols in areas favored by the gangs for street races.

“Without proper and sustainable efforts to tackle this situation, it is not impossible that more serious conflicts will occur.”

According to the IPW, there have been 80 spots in Greater Jakarta favored by biker gangs for drag racing in 2012, up 300 percent from 20 spots in 2009.

The spots include Warung Buncit, Jl. Asia Afrika and Pondok Indah in South Jakarta; Rawa Panjang in Bekasi; Kemayoran and Jl. Pramuka in Central Jakarta; and Klender in East Jakarta.

The IPW also recorded that 65 people died in street races in 2011, compared to 62 who died in 2010 and 68 in 2009.

“They died either in accidents during the races or in brawls between each other,” Neta said.

In the latest such incident, two teenagers died in a stunt gone wrong during a street race in Bogor, south of Jakarta, in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The bikers, Rizki Maulana, 15, and Zulfikar, 17, collided with each other at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday at Jl. Suryakencana in Bogor. Rizki reportedly rode his bike against the flow of traffic before hitting Zulfikar, who came from the other direction.

Neta concurred that most street racers in Jakarta were teenagers between 14 and 22.

“Many of them will engage in betting during the races, with the bets ranging from Rp 100,000 [US$10.90] to as large as Rp 25 million.”

Separately, Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto told reporters on Sunday that an order has been issued to all police commands under the jurisdiction of the Jakarta Police to conduct nightly patrols of areas often used by biker gangs to hold drag races.

The Jakarta Police oversee the police forces of all five of the capital’s municipalities, as well as areas in nearby satellite cities such as Bekasi and Depok, West Java, and Tangerang, Banten, as well as Thousand Islands Regency.

“Every police command will deploy 100 officers in the nightly patrols,” Rikwanto said, adding that the Indonesian Military (TNI) would send Military Police officers and members assigned to local military units to join the patrols following reports that Navy sailors were involved in the incidents.

Rikwanto denied allegations that the children of police officers were involved in the violence.

Three died and at least 15 others were injured in four brutal assaults in the capital in the past 17 days.

First Seaman Arifin Sirih was attacked and killed in a brawl in Pademangan, North Jakarta, on March 31. Another death followed seven days later in Tanjung Priok, also in North Jakarta.

Soleh died after suffering a deep stab wound to his abdomen. The 17-year-old, his brother and two friends were assaulted at a gas station while waiting to refuel their motorcycles.

Another attack, reportedly involving hundreds of biker-gang members, claimed the life of Anggi Darmawan and injured several others in the early hours of Friday.

The gang also vandalized a 7-Eleven convenience store before attacking three other customers in the store.

The police have detained one suspect in connection with the attacks.

University student JRR, 22, was arrested at his house in Koja, North Jakarta, on April 9, for allegedly taking part in killing Arifin.

JRR has been charged with forceful attack under the Criminal Code, which carries a penalty of up to 12 years’ imprisonment, and with assault, which has a maximum sentence of 7 years’ imprisonment.

Meanwhile, a similar wave of violence has struck another city in the archipelago more than 1,400 kilometers away from the capital.

A Makassar State University student identified as Ibrahim Samsari, 21, died after he was brutally beaten by a biker gang on Saturday night on Jl. Sungai Saddang in the South Sulawesi capital.

Ibrahim reportedly died from an intercranial hemorrhage.

The Makassar Police have arrested 13 individuals in connection with the case, one of whom was reportedly an 11-year-old boy.

Seven of the detainees have already been named suspects. The police have also confiscated four motorcycles, three arrows, and two slingshots as evidence.

The suspects have also been charged with forceful attack under the Criminal Code.

Recent assaults involving biker gangs

On early March 30, Navy First Seaman Arifin Sirih was killed in an assault after dozens of bikers ganged up on him in Pademangan, North Jakarta. The police have arrested university student JRR, 22, on April 9, for allegedly taking part in this attack.

On early April 7, four teenagers were about to fill up their motorcycles in Tanjung Priok, North Jakarta, when they were suddenly attacked by a group of bikers. Soleh, 17, died. His brother Zaenal, 18, and his friend Reza, 19, suffered wounds to their heads.

On early April 8, four teenagers were hanging out on Jl. Benyamin Sueb in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, when a group of 30 bikers attacked them with sharp weapons. The four suffered severe injuries but survived.

On early April 13, around 200 people on motorbikes assaulted and robbed people in seven different spots across North and Central Jakarta. Anggi Darmawan was attacked on Jl. Pramuka at 3 a.m. and died from severe hemorrhaging within his head some eight hours later at nearby Cempaka Putih Islamic Hospital. Another eight were severely injured.

On April 14, Ibrahim Samsari, 22, died during an assault by a gang of bikers in Makassar.