Jakarta – The police arrested 19 men on Sunday for allegedly abducting and torturing a coffee seller in Kebon Jeruk, West Jakarta, after she refused to pay them Rp 100,000 (US$8.78) in protection money.

The 46-year-old woman, identified only as H, escaped early on Sunday after being confined for two days, and filed a report with police.

"The West Jakarta Police arrested the 19 street hoodlums at 5 a.m. on Sunday in four different locations across West Jakarta. Five people were arrested at a shack near the Kedoya Apartments in Kebon Jeruk; five on Jl. Setia in Kedoya; five on Jl. Mawar in Kembangan, and four in Kapuk, Cengkareng," Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Rikwanto told The Jakarta Post on Sunday. He added that police officers had shot one suspect, identified only as FDM, 20, in his right leg after he resisted arrest.

"The police also confiscated a samurai-style sword, a knife and the wooden handle of a hoe used by the suspects to torture the victim," he said.

West Jakarta Police detectives chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Hengki Haryadi said that right now his personnel were still questioning the 19 men. "Our preliminary investigation results reveal that the men are members of the Flores street gang, which frequently extorts money from petty traders in West Jakarta," he told the Post.

He also said that the men were possibly affiliated with underworld kingpin Hercules Rozario Marshal, who is currently being detained for alleged extortion and money laundering dating back to 2006.

Hercules was arrested by the West Jakarta Police on Aug. 3 after spending nearly five months in jail after an incident at a police security briefing in Meruya Kembangan, West Jakarta.

Hercules and 45 of his men were arrested following a clash with police at the Tjakra Multi Strategi retail complex on March 8. The clash broke out when the gang allegedly began provoking police officers who were guarding the area after reports that Hercules and his men had been shaking down local businesses.

Hengki said that H was currently receiving medical treatment at the Pelni Hospital in West Jakarta. "She suffered an infection from a serious wound to her genitalia after the suspects jabbed them repeatedly with the wooden hoe handle," he said.

According to the victim, the men abducted her from her shop on Friday at 3 p.m. after she refused to pay them the money. They then took her to a shack near the Kedoya Apartments and held her hostage there.

"She said that apart from the torture with the hoe handle, she was subjected to cigarette burns and had hot molten plastic poured over her body," he said.

He added that the victim managed to escape at 2 a.m. on Sunday and fled to the nearest police station. "When she recovers, the investigators will ask her to identify the suspects who allegedly tortured her," Hengki said. (ogi)