Bomb hoax on train

MRT bomb hoax suspect accused of two other scares on buses

Yesterday, two new charges were slapped on Liu Tze Yuen, 45, in a district court after he was held on remand for a week.

THE man allegedly behind the Hougang bomb hoax, which disrupted train services for hours two weeks ago, could be a serial hoaxer as investigations into his alleged wrongdoing widens.

The new charges accuse him of masterminding two other bomb hoaxes this year. They allegedly took place on public buses on July 7 and Aug 12 - the latter on the same day he is accused of carrying out the hoax at the
Hougang MRT station. Liu, who will be held on remand for another week following the new developments, listened solemnly as the charges were read out to him.

On July 7, he was said to have placed a white package in a bus that he was travelling in. He did it at about noon on service 151 as he was travelling along Hougang Avenue 3. Tacked on the package was a note which said: 'If you see it, please don't touch and leave this bus.'

More than a month later, on Aug 12, he allegedly left another package wrapped heavily with scotch tape on service 143 while he was travelling along Eu Tong Sen Street in Chinatown. He was said to have done it at about 1.30pm - an hour after he allegedly left a similar package at the Hougang MRT station. The package was found to have only empty food cans and empty packets of instant noodles.

Liu allegedly intended the passengers on the two buses to believe that the packages contained explosive devices.

He will return to court next Wednesday and now faces a total of three charges under the United Nations (Anti-Terrorism Measures) Regulations, which came into effect here in 2001.

On each charge, he could, if found guilty, be jailed up to five years and fined a maximum of $100,000.

In view of the heightened threat of terrorism, the courts have taken a severe stand against bomb hoaxers.

In March this year, 29-year-old Mak Hoy Meng, a restaurant supervisor, was jailed for 2 1/2 years after admitting he was responsible for a bomb hoax. On Feb 4, he gave an SMRT employee two handwritten notes bearing bomb threats that he claimed to have found.

In June last year, Mohamed Ansari Amanulla, a former customer service officer with SBS Transit, was jailed for 3 1/2 years for making a hoax call about a bomb. He made the call after leaving a box and a note on a North-East Line MRT train. The note bore messages that said 'Beware!', 'Singapore is not safe from today, any time, anywhere' and 'Revenge is sweet. Help save lives'.

from The Straits Times Interactive
26 August 2005