Nervous Jakartans deal with SMS bomb hoaxes

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.