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)