Nervous Jakartans deal with SMS bomb hoaxes

Abdul Khalik, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

After receiving a forwarded text message warning that three vehicles loaded with explosives were traversing the city, Tista, 27, an employee at a five-star hotel, felt the responsibility to spread the news to everybody in her phonebook.

"It said that the information came from the police. I thought my friends and family members should know about this," she told The Jakarta Post on Thursday.

There were apparently several versions of this message being passed among cell phones, reaching journalists and Jakarta Police officers as well.

In response, the police deployed two-thirds of their 26,000 officers and began stopping and inspecting vehicles.

Over a dozen bomb threats have circulated through the capital via SMS over the past few weeks.

Although all turned out to be hoaxes, a small explosion did occur in front of the house of controversial Muslim cleric Abu Jibril in Pamulang, Tangerang, on Wednesday, just hours after Jakarta Police chief Insp. Gen. Firman Gani received a report on an SMS warning of an explosion somewhere in Pamulang.

"Now we are confused ... a text message that turned out to be correct. How can we verify it? Can the police trace the original sender?" Tista asked.

Jakarta Police spokesman Sr. Comr. Tjiptono said people could verify any bomb warnings with the police by sending an SMS to 1717, with the questionable SMS attached, or by calling the police hotline at 112.

"Our operators will confirm around-the-clock whether such information is coming from us or not. If members of the public receive a bomb threat, they can reach us at the same numbers ... and the bomb squad will arrive. We do not charge anything for the service," he said.

The hotline number is connected to police radio station Suara Metro, which will broadcast a message to police patrol cars.

Though the police may be able to respond quickly to these SMS hoaxes, they seem unable to stop them. Police have detained only one person in connection with dozens of bomb hoaxes sent over the past five months.

"We receive reports of bomb hoaxes almost every day. People these days can change numbers easily and buy new numbers anywhere. And remember, we have a limited number of officers to deal with lots of different kinds of crimes," Tjiptono said.