Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The word 'begal' has gained instant notoriety in Indonesia, especially in the areas in and around Jakarta. A dangerous contingent whose identity remains unknown hitherto feloniously robs motorcycles and other goods belonging to the victim exploiting violence method which evidently resulted with casualties.
This group has been scaring off many people around Jakarta, Bekasi, Tangerang, Bogor and Depok area since early 2015. Those who use motorcycles at night time are lingered with the fear of being attacked and robbed violently.
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Based on the data collected by the police, the 'begal’ case frequent occurrences are around the South Jakarta area with as many as 17 robbery cases being reported. In Central Jakarta, 8 cases have been reported. In Tangerang, 2 cases have been reported, whereas in Depok there are at least 5 cases that have been reported.
It has been speculated that this 'group' performing violent robbery consisting individuals from motorcycle gang who frequently hang out at night and race with each other.
An automotive expert, Wulung Damardoto said, these people performing 'begal' is driven by economy factor. This means that they are doing it for the sake of getting money out of it. With many of the perpetrators thought to be coming from the lower classes, it is appropriate to assume that this method of violence is one 'easy money' way to make a living.
The biker gang originally comes from the United States. However, in America, this gang does everything in accordance to their lifestyle. Meaning, the reason behind the frequent gatherings at night time and racing on the streets is primarily because it feeds to their sense of lifestyle.
This is what makes the biker gang in Indonesia and the States different from one another. It is ironic to see that, Indonesian bikers tend to copy the lifestyle of that of the American but misinterpret it. What happens then is that the biker gang reportedly performing violence in many kinds of forms to make a living using their asset, the motorcycle.
"Historically speaking, the biker gang in America has a big influence and gave birth to the biker gangs elsewhere, and especially in this case, in Indonesia," Wulung said.
The fact that the biker gang in Indonesia uses violence clearly shows that it is even more sadistic than the ones in the United States.
"American bikers prioritize lifestyle, whereas in Indonesia, bikers tend to do stuff in accordance to their will to fulfil their economic interest. It has become a job for them and the motorcycle is the medium towards reaching it," Wulung continued as he told the correspondent of Liputan6.com, Jakarta, Monday (2/03/2015).
What is most important from this matter is that, Wulung is convinced that there is a culprit behind this case. He even suspected that this person or a group of people voluntarily finance these criminals to perform ‘begal’ at night on the streets.
"What I am trying to find out here is, who is the actor behind all these cases? They can easily have access to these men, recruiting them and organizing them well. There ought to be someone responsible for all these mayhem," Wulung further explained.
As for that matter, he personally requests for the police and other authorities to do more than just raiding and monitoring in trying to resolve this issue. There is a dire need to unravel the culprit behind this act, thus a specialized operation focused on finding the syndicate is deemed necessary if the case is to be closed once and for all.
"Raiding is not particularly effective, they could get a way with it. We should do more operations. It could be done by dispatching intelligence personnel so they could find out the insides of the group," Wulung concluded. (Akp/Tnt)