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Pot repairman arrested for moonlighting as firearms maker
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Ujang Basri alias Ujang Soder, who was arrested for making homemade firearms, goes around his village everyday to offer his services as a pot pan and umbrella repairman, fixing broken pots, pans and umbrellas. (kompas.com/Aji YK Putra)
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76-year-old pot repairman in Rantau Tenang village, Empat Lawang regency, South Sumatra, could face up to 10 years in prison for allegedly running a secret business of making improvised firearms.
Locals known him as Ujang Basri alias Ujang Soder, who goes around his village every day offering his services as a pot, pan and umbrella repairman.
However, since his job was not able to fulfill his daily needs, he reportedly resorted to moonlighting as a firearms maker, a profession that could earn him about Rp 300,000 (US$20.36) to Rp 350,000 for each short and long barreled weapon.
Ujang reportedly said he had been making improvised firearms since 1980. At first, his weapons were used to hunt wild animals such as boars and bears on his land.
Since then, he started receiving orders from villagers around the area as well as other regions outside South Sumatra.
His clients would give him a certain type of bullet that would be used and Ujang would assemble the weapon according to the type.
“But I stopped in 2006 because I got arrested and was imprisoned for 1.5 years for assembling illegal firearms. After I got out of prison, I became a pot, pan and umbrella repairman but the earnings were not enough for me to meet my daily needs,” he said at the Empat Lawang Police as quoted by kompas.com.
Empat Lawang Police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Agus Setyawan said police had seized evidence such as firearms assembling tools, assembled firearms, bullets of many sizes and gunpowder for ammunition. The police are also investigating Ujang’s alleged clients.
Ujang could spend the rest of his old age in prison as he could face up to 10 years in prison if found guilty of running an illegal firearms assembly service. (ris/ahw)
