Police are hunting down a group of people they identified as debt collectors who ganged up on an officer in Bekasi as shown in a recent viral video.
The video shows 6 to 10 debt collectors (reports vary) attacking a cop in broad daylight on a busy street in Bekasi’s Pondok Gede neighborhood. The incident is believed to have taken place on Tuesday.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XIZ6re3Q2gk
Despite being vastly outnumbered, the video shows the plainclothes officer (black shirt and pants, carrying a backpack) taking the debt collectors on and holding his own in the brawl. The fight ends after a few minutes when others try to intervene.
Bekasi Metro Police confirmed that the incident took place on Tuesday and revealed the cop in the video to be Head Brigadier Karlos Infantri (a name that seems more suited to the army), a member of the Pondok Gede precinct’s Traffic Unit.
According to the police, Karlos was driving his motorcycle through Pondok Gede when the gang of debt collectors randomly stopped him, telling him that his motorcycle was “problematic” and that they were going to confiscate it. Karlos refused, identifying himself as a police officer. The debt collectors apparently didn’t buy it, and suddenly began to use force against him, as seen in the video.
Eventually a Jakarta Metro Police officer, who happened to be at the scene, helped to break up the fight. As locals turned against them, the debt collectors fled the scene in a hurry, leaving behind two of their motorcycles.
Karlos escaped the attack relatively unscathed.
“The victim suffered bruises on the right side of his jaw and on the back of his neck. We’re still investigating,” said Bekasi Metro Police Spokeswoman Erna Ruswing, as quoted by Merdeka.
The police have raided the debt collectors’ suspected residences, but have only managed to capture one so far. The rest of Karlos’ attackers are believed to be on the run.
Debt collectors acting violently in Jakarta is unfortunately not a rare occurrence, which is why people considered it so strange when Jakarta’s vice governor-elect Sandiaga Uno last week suggested that the city’s street thugs should be employed by financial companies as debt collectors.
