Latest bomb hoaxes at bank building and bus terminal
Latest bomb hoaxes at bank building and bus terminal
JAKARTA (JP): Fresh bomb hoaxes continued to hit the city
yesterday, keeping police busy sweeping a number of places where
bombs were reportedly planted.
City police spokesman Lt. Col. E. Aritonang said a few places
in South Jakarta were swept for bombs after threatening phone
calls were received by the Danamon Aetna building on Jl. Sudirman
and the Lebak Bulus bus terminal.
"We checked the places and found nothing there," said
Aritonang.
A security officer at the Danamon building reportedly received
the first threatening phone call late Monday but only reported it
to the police after receiving a second bomb threat from an
anonymous caller.
Aritonang said the bomb squad searched the building thoroughly
but found nothing.
The bomb threat in the Lebak Bulus bus terminal was received
yesterday morning, but the bomb squad, which swept the bus
terminal, found nothing. The squad reportedly searched a nearby
soccer field in the afternoon.
There were other places, including a Pasaraya mall, where
bombs were said to have been planted. But Aritonang refused to
comment, saying his office only received reports on Danamon and
Lebak Bulus.
Aritonang said his office had intensified surveillance of
people who were believed to be involved in making such calls.
"We've been spying on certain places in an attempt to find
these irresponsible people," he said.
He said his office had also intensified its cooperation with
the state-owned telecommunications company to trace the origin of
the calls.
"Tracing the numbers is not difficult. But finding the people
who make such calls is not easy, because they might use public
phones and leave the places afterward to avoid being caught by
officers," he said.
He denied that the police had not given their utmost in
handling the matter, saying some officers had been deployed to
search for information in areas outside Jakarta.
"We've even sent our officers to West, Central and East Java,"
said the spokesman.
He said that so far no one had been apprehended, but security
in the city had been intensified.
"We've been doing routine patrols day and night. We've also
placed several mobile stations at strategic or crowded areas,"
said Aritonang.
He said the mobile stations were parked in Menteng and Salemba
in Central Jakarta and Rawamangun in East Jakarta.
He urged whoever was terrorizing the public with their
threatening phone calls to office buildings or public facilities
to stop their irresponsible acts.
He lambasted the callers, saying such actions produced nothing
but anxiety to the public.
"The people who like to have fun by calling others about a
bomb set to explode at certain places must immediately stop their
actions," he said. (cst)