Man stumbles upon 11 relic homemade bombs in swamp

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SARIKEI: The local police were informed of the discovery of 11 bombs, believed to be relics of the communist insurgency era, in a swamp along Sentebu Road, about six kilometres from here last Saturday.

LIVE AND DANGEROUS: Homemade bombs believed to be ‘booby traps’ planted by communists, found in a swamp along Jalan Sentebu in Sarikei.

Confirming the discovery, Sarikei deputy district police chief DSP Dominic Jossip said that the bombs had been discovered by a member of public about a month ago, but he (identity withheld) only came forward to inform the police last Saturday.

A police team was immediately despatched to the scene to investigate, he said, adding that from their observation, they decided to contact the Bomb Unit of Sibu police and let them have a closer examination of the objects.

The police bomb experts believed that the 11 home-made bombs were ‘booby traps’ planted by the communists in the 1960s or 1970s.

The cylindrical bombs of about 5.4 inches in diameter and 7 to 8 inches in length were still active and had been successfully detonated at 5.30pm the same day, Dominic said.

Dominic advised the public not to be unduly worried by the discovery.

However, as a safety measure he advised those who might come across similar objects or any other suspicious looking objects in their area to immediately inform the police.

“We are ever ready to render our service. There is no reason for the public not to trust the police as our core business is to look after their security,” he stressed.