The police are on high alert as a coordinated group is believed to have robbed three more gold shops in Deli Serdang, North Sumatra on Tuesday, the third case of armed robbery in the province in the past week.
North Sumatra Police chief spokesman Sr. Comr. Heru Prakoso said there were strong indications that the three separate robbery cases were perpetrated by a single, welltrained group.
"We have set up a team to hunt down the robbers. The target is to arrest them immediately and solve the case," Heru said.
When asked whether terrorists constituted the group, Heru said though it was a possibility, they couldn't know until the men were arrested.
Heru said the firearms used in the robberies were most likely acquired from Aceh and Malaysia. "There are still plenty of excess firearms left over from the Aceh conflict," he said.
In the latest heist, at around 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday six armed men simultaneously robbed Semmy J, Permata Indah and P. Tarigan gold and jewelry shops in the Pasar Baru area of Percut Sei Tuan district in Deli Serdang.
There were no victims, but hundreds of millions of rupiah in gold was stolen.
"The robbers took 1.3 kilograms (kg) of gold worth some Rp 400 million [US$35,700]," said Putera Tarigan, owner of P. Tarigan, when filing a police report.
The robbers got away with some 500 grams of gold from each of the two other shops.
Putera said the six robbers did not cover their faces and entered each gold shop brandishing rifles and handguns before smashing the display cases and escaping with the gold. Working in teams of two, one robber entered each shop while another waited outside.
"There were no police officers on duty around the shopping area, so the robbers could escape quietly," said Heru. He added that the robbers escaped on three motorcycles, two headed to Simpang Jodoh and the third to Denai.
Last Friday six robbers got away with five kg of gold during a heist in Medan. On Sunday, two kg of gold was stolen from shops in Batubara regency.
The National Counterterrorism Agency (BNPT) has reported that Medan has become a fundraising center for terror groups because of its prosperity.
The I/Bukit Barisan Military Command (Kodam) chief spokesman, Col. Halilintar, said the Indonesian Army was ready to assist the police in apprehending the robbers.
Halilintar said the Kodam oversaw the 100th Raider Infantry Battalion. A Raider battalion has higher capabilities than a regular infantry unit, including in counterterrorism.
"We are ready to deploy our anti terror unit to assist the police if there is such request," he said. (Apriadi Gunawan), Sumber Koran: THE JAKARTA POST/MEDAN (18 September 2013/Rabu, Hal. 05)