Police headquarters panicked by bomb hoax

Police headquarters panicked by bomb hoax

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A large envelope of documents, suspected of containing an
explosive, caused the police to panic on Sunday following a bomb
threat by an unidentified telephone caller.

The threat turned out to be a hoax, however, as revealed after
the police bomb squad immediately combed the vicinity of police
headquarters in South Jakarta.

The incident began when an unidentified man phoned an on-duty
officer at 12:50 p.m., saying that a bomb had been planted
somewhere in the compound.

The man claimed to be calling from Cikini, Central Jakarta.

The officer immediately called the bomb squad, who arrived
soon after to search the compound.

To the squad's surprise, when they checked the incoming
packages and letters, their metal detector beeped over a package
intended for the police directorate of finance.

The squad later found out that the large envelope only
contained documents fastened with metal paper clips.

The bomb threat was the first to come following the
embarrassing experience earlier last week, when a bomb ripped
through the lobby of Wisma Bhayangkari, which is located in the
same compound with national police headquarters.

The device detonated before the bomb squad's arrival, although
it had been found by building janitors nearly an hour before it
exploded. The bombing was a slap in the face for the police
force, coming on the heels of their success in uncovering the
terrorist networks responsible for the October 12 Bali bombings.

The Wisma Bhayangkari bomb attack was the first in the
capital, as well as in the country, this year. The latest
explosion last Saturday, which police claimed to just be a big
firecracker, injured a farmer in Penggilingan, Cakung, East
Jakarta. Last year, police reported at least four bomb attacks in
the capital, which claimed a total of two lives.