Live grenade found in Kemayoran

Live grenade found in Kemayoran

JAKARTA (JP): A street vendor found an active hand grenade on
the sidewalk in the Kemayoran district in Central Jakarta on
Tuesday, a police officer said.

Kemayoran Police Chief Maj. Sudjono however could not disclose
the origin, make and year of the pineapple-shaped explosive which
37-year old Basman bin Kasman found on Jl. Landasan Pacu.

The road, which used to be an airport runway, is virtually
empty and far from any building or houses.

"Basman reported his finding to the police," Sudjono said,
adding that his staff immediately contacted the National Police's
Bomb Disposal Squad (Gegana) team.

Police were still investigating the case, he said.

"We don't know whether it was placed there or it had
accidentally fallen," he said.

Separately, Capt. Hendra Suhartiyono, chief detective of the
Central Jakarta Police, believed that the grenade had
accidentally fallen because the pin remained intact.

If the intention was to set it off, whoever planted it would
have to carefully time the explosion because a grenade would
explode within seconds after the pin was removed, he said.

Jakarta has seen two separate bomb threats over the past week.
On Friday, a British citizen reported to the police an anonymous
phone call saying that a bomb had been planted in his house in
Cilandak, South Jakarta. On Thursday, a West Jakarta church also
received a call about a bomb placed inside.

Both turned out to be hoaxes, but police treated the reports
seriously, especially after the bomb explosion in a church in
Medan, North Sumatra, on May 28.

Jakarta Police Chief Maj. Gen. Nurfaizi on Monday urged the
public to take an active part in maintaining security and to
immediately alert the authorities if they saw anything
suspicious.

Nurfaizi made the remarks after meeting with the chief of the
Jakarta Military Command, Maj. Gen. Ryamizard Ryacudu. The two
men discussed various issues including security conditions and
recent bomb threats in Jakarta, according to Kompas.

Nurfaizi admitted that the police force was not large enough
to provide comprehensive round-the-clock security in the capital.
(06)