Police beef up security in Indramayu after bomb hoax

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.