T

wo Corridor 9 Transjakarta busway shelters serving the Pinang Ranti-Pluit route on Jl. MT Haryono in South Jakarta were vandalized in drive-by shootings by unidentified culprits early on Sunday.

Similar incidents took place at the same spots in July and August this year.

South Jakarta Police spokesman Adj. Comr. Aswin Sipayung said that the vandals firstly attacked the Tugu Pancoran shelter, smashing the shelter’s glass door.

“We assume that the vandals damaged the shelters by shooting them, due to the sounds heard by some witnesses,” Aswin said, citing the possibility that the shooter or shooters used an airsoft gun.

He added that shortly after the first attack, another shooting took place at Tebet BKPM shelter, also on Jl. MT Haryono.

Aswin said that the police hadn’t concluded that the attacks were conducted by the same group that damaged the same Transjakarta corridor shelters previously.

“The modus is similar [to the previous incidents], but we cannot conclude yet whether the vandals are from the same group,” Aswin told The Jakarta Post, adding that the police were still searching for the previous perpetrators.

He said that according to statements from witnesses, a white-colored sedan was seen passing the shelters when they heard loud bangs.

According to Aswin, the police have questioned six witnesses in their investigation of the incident.

Meanwhile, Transjakarta BRT Management Authority (BLU) director Muhammad Akbar said that the authority was planning to install CCTVs in every busway shelter in the city to prevent any similar incidents recurring.

“We will deploy more officers and also put CCTV in every shelter to ease the police in investigating cases of vandalism in the future. It will be easier for them to track down the perpetrators if we can provide footage,” Akbar told the Post on Sunday.

He said that the CCTV cameras, which were expected to be ready by the end of this year, would be installed both inside and outside the shelters.

Akbar said that the authority was still calculating the cost of the damage. The incident did not disrupt the operation of Transjakarta along Corridor 9, as the service carried on as usual after the incident, he said. (nad)