Police beef up security in Indramayu after bomb hoax

Nana Rukmana and Sri Wahyuni, The Jakarta Post, Indramayu/Yogyakarta

Indramayu Police in West Java have established a special investigative team to probe a bomb hoax that terrorized locals over the weekend, as well as to provide extra security at strategic sites.

"We don't want to play around. Although it was a hoax, it is still terrorism as it was aimed at disrupting security and people's feelings of safety. Therefore, the hoax has to be investigated," said local police chief Adj. Sr. Comr. Eko Hadi Sutedjo here on Monday.

Police in Indramayu worked overtime following a report of a bomb threat by unidentified callers. A fake bomb was placed in the middle of the Cimanuk II bridge, which connects Jatibarang with Widarasari in Cirebon regency.

The bridge is a crucial route in the northern coastal area, connecting Jakarta with other cities in the west, east and central parts of the island.

Sutedjo added that the bomb threat was received on Saturday.

Bomb squads arrived at the bridge to find three pieces of painted bamboo instead of real dynamite.

Investigators who found the fake bomb said it was shaped like three sticks of dynamite, with each stick measuring three centimeters in diameter and 16 centimeters in length.

"A clock was attached to the top and it looked like real dynamite," he said.

Sutedjo said that the bomb hoax had caused panic among locals. He said that he had received the bomb threat at 6 a.m. on Saturday.

As a precaution against further possible terrorism in West Java, the police chief ordered officers to boost security along the northern coastal area.

He added that his office had increased security at strategic facilities belonging to state oil firm Pertamina in Indramayu.

"Over the past two days, we have checked all vehicles taking the northern coastal road. We have increased security along the most congested areas of the route," he added.

The hoax came on the heels of a blast that injured two people in Bandung, the capital of the province, last Thursday. Another homemade bomb was found in the Plaza Indonesia shopping mall also in Bandung.

Another bomb hoax also sparked mass panic among locals in Yogyakarta when an abandoned minivan, parked in the basement of the Maliboro department store in the city on Saturday, was suspected of containing explosives.

Shoppers and employees of the department store fled in panic when they were asked to leave the building while a bomb squad investigated the vehicle.

The bomb squad found no explosives inside the minivan.

A man, Dedi Zuhrianto, 37, of Tanjung Balai, Asahan, North Sumatra, approached police and told an officer that he was the owner of the van. He said he had left his car at the mall on Friday night because he was staying at a nearby hotel on Jl. Pasar Kembang.