No bombs at courthouse

By BOURA GORU KILA and LIBERT SANGUNDI
AN all-clear instruction was issued around 11am yesterday by the police dog unit officers after they had investigated a possible bomb threat at the Waigani court house.
Sergeant Dominic Nassam, the officer in charge of the K9 firearms and explosives detection unit, issued the all-clear instruction after checking the building.
“We searched the committal court house and found nothing suspicious in the building.
“So the place is safe now,” Nassam said.
Nassam said they received a call from the police operation centre about the bomb threat and used their dogs to search the entire building.
“We then advised the court clerks and the court staff that the place was safe and that they could return to work,” he added.
It was the third bomb threat scare at the courthouse.
At about 8.02am yesterday, two court clerks received the same text message from an unknown number which read: “Security alert! Bomb threat at Waigani Court house today by disgruntled landowners over prolonged injustice.”
A police officer told them to vacate the building for safety, then called the dog unit and the bomb squad. Digicel PNG was asked to trace the phone number.
The bomb squad and their dogs arrived at 10am and conducted a search of the court premises.
A fire truck returned to base after the all-clear was given.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Regional Operations), Philip Mitna, warned that any person making such as threat could face jail time even if the call was a hoax.
“It is a serious crime with a jail sentence of up to seven years,” Mitna said.