Bomb hoax at BSG building

JAKARTA (JP): The latest in a series of bomb hoaxes throughout the city prompted police to evacuate hundreds of office workers from Bina Surya Group (BSG) on Jl. Abdul Muis in Central Jakarta yesterday.

The chief of Central Jakarta Police identification unit, First Lt. Sukirno, said the building's center management, PT Dwibina Prima, reported the bomb threat at 10 a.m.

He said an unidentified caller telephoned the office at 9:30 a.m., saying a bomb had been planted in the building and it was scheduled to explode at noon.

"The police precinct immediately deployed the bomb squad to comb the 11-story building as soon as the bomb threat was received."

During the inspection, the bomb squad checked the entire building, including a sweep of the parking lot and the cars parked there.

After more than two hours, the building was declared secure and safe.

But 10 members of the squad, led by Second Lt. Danu Waspodo, entered the building again at noon to ensure there was no bomb, Sukirno said.

The evacuated office employees returned to work at 12:30 p.m.

"There is nothing here. As you can see, we have come down from the building safely," he said, calming down frightened workers after the inspection.

A receptionist in the central management office, Ismi, was reported to be the first person to receive the threatening phone call.

Ismi, from Banten in West Java, declined to comment about the incident.

A series of bomb hoaxes have rocked the city in recent days.

A bomb threat was recorded at Mal Pondok Indah in South Jakarta on Saturday night, disrupting the midnight movie sessions and prompting the evacuation of hundreds of moviegoers.

On Monday, there was a bomb hoax at Bank Nusa in the Wisma Bakrie building on Jl. Rasuna Said in Kuningan and Danamon Aetna building on Jl. Sudirman, both in South Jakarta.

Lebak Bulus Bus Terminal, also in South Jakarta, was targeted Tuesday. (emf)