Bank Robber Uses Bomb Threat to Get Rp 155 Million

Farouk Arnaz

Police in Yogyakarta are investigating a bank robbery on Monday in which the perpetrator made off with Rp 155 million ($16,400) after threatening to detonate a bomb.

Sr. Comr. Agus Rianto, a National Police spokesman, said the incident occurred soon after the Bank Rakyat Indonesia branch at the Sardjito Hospital complex in Yogyakarta’s Sleman district opened for business at 8 a.m.

He said a man approached a teller and presented a package that he claimed was a bomb. The teller, believing the threat, handed him the money.

The perpetrator then threw the package to the ground and fled, while the bank’s security guards and other employees cowered, fearing an explosion.

The police’s bomb squad was called to the scene to dispose of the package.

Agus said the National Police did not know yet if the package genuinely contained an explosive device.

“There were cables sticking out of the package, but at this point we don’t know yet whether it was a real bomb or if it was just meant to scare people,” he said. “This is still being investigated.”

Yogyakarta Police said the package did contain a “low-yield explosive,” and that the bomb squad was able to successfully detonate it remotely.

Agus said no one was injured in the incident, and it was believed the perpetrator did not have any other weapon.

“We’re still investigating exactly what he told the bank official,” he said.

He also cautioned against linking the incident to terrorist groups, which have been known to engage in bank heists, albeit at gunpoint, to fund their activities.

The bank robbery came just hours after a group of six armed men stole Rp 200 million from a safe at a crafts college in Yogyakarta’s Bantul district.

Adj. Sr. Comr. Ani Pudjiastuti, a Yogyakarta Police spokeswoman, said on Monday that the robbery took place at around 3 a.m., on Monday at the Academy of Leather Technology (ATK).

She said the gang bound and gagged two security guards at the campus, then beat up a third who tried to seek help.

They smashed through a window to enter the main building and headed to the accounting room. They broke open a safe in the room and fled with the case, believed to hold about Rp 200 million.

Ani said the robbers were able to flee undetected because of the remote location of the campus, which is surrounded by rice paddies.

Additional reporting from Antara