KL CPO: Bombings work of professionals, not police

The bombings outside the Jalan Duta Court Complex on Monday was the work of professional bomb makers and not the police, said Kuala Lumpur police chief Mohmad Salleh.  

He said police investigations at the locations of the bombings found the bombs were set of by timers while the traffic cones they were hidden in were easily available.

"The thickness of the cones used also varied, whereby, where the first and second bombs went off, they were only three millimetres (mm) thick while the cone hiding the third bomb was just 2mm thick.

"The police's traffic cones are 7mm thick," he told a press conference after attending a cheque presentation ceremony for widows of police personnel who died in the line of duty today.

Further to this, he said, police reconstruction of the fragments of the first two cones found they were conical in shape while the third was a square type, unlike the police's which are triangular shaped.

He said based on the recovery of parts of alarm clocks, PVC pipes and batteries, the bombs of were of the 'improvised explosive device' (IED) type and not as had been reported earlier.

"The alarm clocks used for timers were of the cheap variety, the back was red and the front colourful. The explosive material was packed in PVC pipes having serial numbers 'Cap Es 434' while red and black wires were used to connect to 'Eveready, GP and King Long batteries that supplied the electrical power for detonation," he said.

Bombs meant to create chaos

The bombs went off while a demonstration was going on outside the court complex in support of Opposition Leader Anwar Ibrahim, who was to know the verdict of his sodomy trial at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Monday.

He was acquitted and discharged from a charge of having sodomised his former personal aide Mohd Saiful Bukhari Azlan in 2008.

Mohmad urged anyone with knowledge on the bombings to contact the investigating officer, DSP Yahya Abdul Rahman, at            019-470 8946      or the nearest police station.

He said that so far no one had been called for questioning and that further investigations were ongoing.

He added that police believed the bombings were only meant to cause chaos and not kill or maim people.

Mohmad also took Utusan Malaysia to task for speculating via a front page report that the demonstrators had brought the explosives.

"Do not make speculations on this issue as it could have dire consequences," he said.

Five people were injured, none seriously, in the bombing incidents.

- Bernama