T

he Jakarta Police defended its performance in curbing violent crime by saying that the recent string of grisly murders in the city was no cause for alarm.

Jakarta Police Chief Insp. Gen. Untung S. Rajab said that Jakartans should not panic over the apparent rise in murder rates in the city, as indicated by the discovery of more dead bodies at random spots.

“Murders have been taking place for centuries,” he said on Monday.

Commenting on criticism that his personnel have been lax in their vigilance, Untung said, “let the public judge the quality of Jakarta’s security themselves.”

He only called on Jakartans not to believe unsolicited text messages circulated in the city predicting that major rioting would take place on Oct. 28, when youth and students planned to take to the streets to commemorate the Youth Pledge Day.

“Jakarta is fine. Yes, there are crimes, including theft, drug trafficking and others, but in general the city is doing well,” he said.

Untung said the police would go ahead with its regular crime-prevention operations in the city.

“The current Sikat Jaya operation can be expected to lower the crime rate,” he said, adding that so far, the operation had captured around 1,200 suspects, 700 of whom had been sentenced to prison.

Data from the Jakarta Police showed that there was an increasing trend of murder cases from 2009 to 2010. In 2009, police handled 75 murder cases in 2009, while they handled 86 cases in 2010.

As of now, the police have handled 50 murder cases in Jakarta. In October alone, there have been at least six murder investigations in the city.

On Oct. 1, a Singaporean, Chelapan Karunandhi, 43, was found dead with a stab wound to his neck in his apartment at the Kelapa Gading Square City Home complex at the Mall of Indonesia (MOI) in Kelapa Gading, North Jakarta. A week later police arrested the building’s janitor as a suspect.

Two weeks later on Oct. 14, the body of a woman was found inside a box in an alley in Koja, North Jakarta. Police said the feet and arms of the victim had been tied to her body, which was wrapped in a batik cloth. Stab wounds were found inflicted on her left and right torso.

One day later, the body of a young girl was found in a suitcase in Cakung, East Jakarta, on Saturday.

After further investigation, the police found the murders in Koja and Cakung were related and the victims were a mother and her daughter. The police then managed to arrest a suspect, identified only as R.A., 25.

Also on Oct. 15, Bekasi residents found the body of an unidentified woman under the Kalimalang bridge in Bekasi, West Java. Bekasi Police confirmed that the victim had been murdered as she had suffered a slash wound to her neck and was discovered with 25 kilograms of bricks tied to her body.

On Oct. 18, residents of Srengseng Sawah in Kembangan, West Jakarta, discovered the dead body of a man who had been severely burned. Kembangan precinct chief Comr. Sutoyo said that as yet, authorities had been unable to identify the man, although he was suspected to have been a victim of murder.

On Oct 19, Japanese citizen Tajhi Bana Noboru was found dead with blood oozing from his nose in his room in Bekasi, West Java, on Wednesday.

On Sunday, two fishermen in Penjaringan, North Jakarta found a dead woman with a severe bruise on her neck. Police have launched an investigation into a possible murder case.

Separately, University of Indonesia criminologist, Adrianus Meliala, said that a spike in murder rates was normal.

“Overall, there is no significant increase in crime rates. This week, we might have seen many murders, but in other weeks, the rates are low. If the trend continues in the coming weeks, then we have reason to worry,” he told The Jakarta Post.