Powerful bomb discovered in Bandung super mall

Powerful bomb discovered in Bandung super mall

Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung

An active high-powered bomb was found in the basement of a seven-
storied super mall, the Bandung Plaza Indah, which was crowded
with shoppers in the West Java capital of Bandung on Thursday.

The local police confirmed that the bomb was the second found
over the last five days with unclear motives. The first one, of a
similar type, was found in a public place in the city on Monday.

"We are suspicious that the two bombs have something to do
with the observance of the World Labor Day that will fall on May
1, 2002," Comr. Adeni Mohan, a police officer who led a group of
antiterror police who took the explosive, said on Thursday.

The bomb was found by Agus Adnan under his car at 12:50 p.m.
local time as he was getting into his car in the mall's basement
after shopping in the mall.

Hundreds of shoppers began to panic including several who
jumped from the mall's second floor, as word of the attempted
bombing spread.

Agus, who immediately became suspicious of the device spotted
under his car, reported it to 40-year-old Mahfudin, the mall's
security guard, who reported it to the Bandung Police Precinct.

A group of antiterror police arrived an hour and 10 minutes
later and proceeded to diffuse the device before taking it to the
Police Precinct for further examination.

First Brig. Mugito, said the explosive, which was equipped
with a timer which read 19:30 was similar to the one found on
Monday in a crowded area of Gasibu in the city.

He said the police have frequently received telephone calls
from unidentified people on a number of explosives which were
said to be put in public places in the city, but most of them
turned out to be hoaxes.

"But, for this bomb, we did not get a telephone call," he
said, adding that the bomb would probably have caused damage
within a one-kilometer radius.

He said that despite being homemade, the bomb was made by
professional people because it was well designed.

Mohan added that the police had stepped up security in the
city recently to combat the increasing terror by "certain groups"
who wanted to disturb the city.

"We called on local people to stay alert in an anticipation of
the increasing terror currently. People should immediately report
to security personnel if they find explosives which have been put
in public places," he said.

Bandung Police have recently provoked the ire of at least one
extremist group in the city, after arresting several members of
the Indonesian Islamic State (NII), but there was no indication
that they were connected to either of the bombs this week.