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Bomb hoaxer in custody

Bomb-threat suspect Chu Tsung-yun is accompanied by arresting officers in Taipei yesterday. PHOTO: LIU CHEN-HUI, TAIPEI TIMES

A Taiwanese national holding a US passport was arrested yesterday for making bomb threats on Tuesday involving nine high-profile buildings in Taipei.

The National Police Administration's Criminal Investigation Bureau held a press conference, hosted by Commissioner Hou You-yi (侯友宜), at 9:30am yesterday to announce the arrest of the suspect.

After investigating the suspect's telephone records, Hou said, the bureau's Third Division sent its officers to arrest 45-year-old Chu Tsung-yun (曲宗運) at his Nankang home.

Chu, who holds dual nationalities in Taiwan and the US, did not resist arrest, but investigators said he seemed to be suffering from a psychiatric disorder.

According to Hou, police officers did not find any bomb-related tools or equipment at Chu's residence, but they did find a list of the numbers of the nine buildings he allegedly threatened, as well as some pills thought to be prescribed for psychiatric disorders.

"He said that his brain waves had been controlled by government agents for the past seven years, forcing him to do outrageous things at times," Hou said.

"He said he could not control himself," Hou said.

Police quoted Chu as saying that he came from a wealthy family. He lives alone in the 200-ping mansion in Nankang as his parents are both living in China.

His father was said to be a reverend while Chu was also said to hold a degree from a seminary. He lived in the US for nearly 20 years before deciding to come back to Taiwan seven years ago, when, Chu claimed, he began to be "controlled" by Taiwan's intelligence agencies, authorities said.

Chu also told police he made the nine bomb-threat phone calls because he felt that "Taiwanese people are forced to hide the truth and need a means to speak out."

Police said that Chu began to call several buildings, including the Taipei 101 skyscraper, IBM headquarters, the Legislative Yuan and several local restaurants, at around 9am on Tuesday and said that bombs were planted inside the premises.

However, police and fire department officers did not discover any explosives after the buildings were evacuated.

Chu is suspected of violating Article 151 of the Criminal Code and will face a potential two-year jail term if convicted. However, it is also possible for him to avoid prosecution if a psychiatrist diagnoses him with a psychiatric disorder, according to Article 19 of the code.

"He will be returned to us when the police finish their preliminary questioning," said Wang Jen-kuei (王壬貴), spokesman for the Shihlin District Prosecutors' Office.

"We will have a psychiatrist assess him to establish whether he is suffering from a psychiatric disorder," he said.
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