Suspected bombs in hotel room

Two packages, suspected to be homemade bombs, were found in a room at the Atlantic hotel in Central Jakarta on Sunday by a hotel staff member who was working in the room after the registered guests had checked out.

According to Wahyu Gito, the staff member, one package was found in the water tank behind the room's toilet bowl, in the form of a portable cassette player which was wrapped in several cables. The other package, was found on the bed, in a tennis ball canister.

"I though it could be a bomb, because why would anyone put a strange looking walkman (cassette player) in a toilet water tank? So I immediately informed the hotel officials who later called the police," said Wahyu who found the packages in room 710 at around 9 a.m. on Sunday.

According to the hotel receptionist, Khairul Falak, the room was occupied by a 32-year-old male named Nahwarian, a Jakarta resident, who checked in on Friday afternoon and checked out on Saturday at noon.

Shortly after noon on Sunday, Gegang, the police bomb squad, secured the packages and took them to the police laboratory for further examination.

"At this stage it is only suspected that these are homemade bombs. We must conduct a thorough investigation on the objects to be sure," Adj. Sr. Comr. Edmon Ilyas, chief of Central Jakarta district police told reporters in the lobby of the hotel in Salemba, Central Jakarta, adding that the hotel does not have a copy of the identification card of the person who last occupied the room.

Police took Wahyu, the receptionist and one security guard to the Central Jakarta district police station for further questioning as witnesses.

The hotel staff members and guests were evacuated while the police searched the hotel for more suspicious objects, but at about 2 p.m. the police declared it safe for everybody to return and the hotel to resume normal operation. -- JP