Bomb hoax causes panic at bank building

Bomb hoax causes panic at bank building

JAKARTA (JP): A bomb threat triggered panic at Standard
Chartered Bank on Jl. Jend. Sudirman in Central Jakarta
yesterday, forcing the bank's management to evacuate hundreds of
its employees.

After a two-and-a-half hour sweep through the building by
Jakarta Police and the Gegana bomb squad, the threat was deemed
to be a hoax.

Central Jakarta Police chief Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna told
reporters that the precautionary measures were taken to ensure
the safety and security of the building and its patrons.

"The police received the report from the bank management at
11:15 a.m. They said there was a bomb threat called in at about
10:30 a.m. from a man named Sugono," Iman said.

He said the bomb search took a long time because the police
had to search all 25 floors of the building.

Iman said police found a suspicious object inside a men's
restroom on the first floor and that the bomb squad secured it.

"But I tell you this... it wasn't a bomb," Iman said.

The building was declared safe at 3:30 p.m., allowing
employees to continue work.

Many employees, however, remained outside of the building
until office hours were over.

Iman said the police would attempt to trace the call to
identify the man behind the hoax.

"At this point, we don't have any suspects yet. The most
important thing was to secure the building and the people
inside."

The bomb call was received by Inggrid, a telephone operator
working on the 6th floor of the building.

"The man identified himself as Sugono. He was angry when I
asked for his phone number. Then he told me that there were four
bombs in the building.

"He said one was placed in the restroom, and he told me to
look for the other three. The man said they were placed between
the first and the sixth floors," Inggrid told reporters.

Inggrid asked Sugono why he planted the bombs at the bank. The
caller answered, "Because your bank is a Jewish bank, Ma'am."

Inggrid said Sugono probably called from a pay phone. "After
about three minutes, I heard the phone's tone requesting another
coin to continue the conversation."

According to reliable sources, the building holds an estimated
1,500 employees.

Agus, a bank employee, said people were confused when they
heard the announcement from security officers to leave the
building in an orderly fashion.

"Some of them became panicked because they thought there was a
fire," Agus said.

All the employees were forbidden to go home and they were all
gathered in a waiting room in the back of the building.

"I never thought that this kind of threat would ever happen
here. I've heard about bomb threats before. I thought it was a
sick and cruel joke," he said.

At least 15 bomb hoaxes have been reported to police since
January.

Threatening phone calls were made to office buildings and
public facilities, including the Lippo Supermal in Karawaci,
Tangerang, Bank Harapan's Sentosa's headquarters on Jl. Gajah
Mada in West Jakarta and the newsroom of private television
station Indosiar. (edt)