Prank callers get a kick out of terrorism in Medan

Seems like India is not only the place where the pranksters are active here in Jakarta as this report suggests have loads of them and they even get a kick out of making the police run around and make people run around in fear. Gosh....

Apriadi Gunawan , The Jakarta Post , Medan

Sat, 07/25/2009 1:51 PM

The Archipelago

Unidentified callers have made a series of bomb threats at hotels and schools across Medan in North Sumatra, despite the recent arrest of a young suspect.

The threats followed last Friday's twin bomb explosions at two luxury hotels in Jakarta, the JW Marriott and Ritz-Carlton, which killed nine people.

The latest target was two schools in Medan on Friday, causing panic among hundreds of students and forcing them to flee for their safety.

The bomb threats were received simultaneously by the SD Soetomo elementary school and the SMP Methodist junior high school.

Students were panicked when they were suddenly ordered to leave the classrooms and gather in the school grounds.

Imelda Halim, a student at SD Soetomo, said the school instructed students to leave their classrooms because it had received a bomb threat from an unidentified caller.

The caller said the bomb would explode at around 11 a.m., she added.

A bomb squad from the North Sumatra provincial police was later called in and combed the school building for two hours.

However, the bomb threat turned out to be a hoax, police said.

Since the July 17, 2009 explosions in Jakarta, at least seven bomb threats have been made in Medan.

The first threat was received Sunday by the JW Marriott hotel in Medan and the ASEAN International hotel.

A day later an unidentified caller also threatened to explode the Swiss Belhotel. Similar bomb threats were also received at a private residence and at the Medan Administrative Court.

On Thursday, police arrested one suspect accused of making bomb threats to the city's three international hotels.

The suspect, identified as Indra Gunawan, an 18-year-old boy from Marelan district, was arrested at a bus terminal in Patoh, Banda Aceh, Aceh province.

The Medan police are currently developing its investigation of the suspect.

A preliminary finding from the investigation has revealed the suspect made the bomb threats just for "fun", the police said.

Indra claimed to have received phone numbers of the targeted hotels from radio commercial services, they added.

Medan Police chief of detectives Sr. Comr., Gideon Arif Setyawan, said the suspect made the bomb threats through 100 phone calls and text messages.

Gideon said his office was investigating the possibility that Indra had been involved in previous terror activities in Medan.

"The suspect faces prison under the prevailing laws," he said.

Security has been increased at hotels, airports, ports, office buildings and many other places across Indonesia after the two deadly suicide bomb attacks on the luxury hotels in Jakarta last Friday. There have also been a number of bomb threats and scares in the capital and some other major cities since the blasts.