An army officer in urgent need of cash was arrested by police in Taichung early yesterday for allegedly attempting to blast a hole into an automatic teller machine (ATM) with explosives stolen from his unit, the army said.
Lieutenant Chang Chih-kai (
Chang was found with about half a kilogram of explosives, a fuse and a detonator, which he later confessed had all been stolen from his unit in Penghu.
Chang serves at an ammunition depot in the Penghu islands which is responsible for the safekeeping of ammunition and explosives.
The Ministry of National Defense denied at first that the explosives found with Chang had been stolen from his unit, insisting that an initial check indicated there had been no explosives lost from the depot.
But further investigations by the army confirmed that the depot had indeed lost about half a kilogram of explosives, a fuse and a detonator.
The army's leadership was enraged at the incident, ordering an immediate replacement of Chang's unit chief as well as the highest-ranked logistics officer of the Penghu command, the army general headquarters said.
The army has also launched a service-wide check of all the ammunition and explosives in storage in an attempt to find out whether any other items have been lost.
Investigations by the army showed that Chang was able to steal explosives from his unit mainly due to lack of proper management and supervision.
Chang, a reserve officer, reportedly told police that he planned to use the explosives to blast a hole into the ATM and steal money from the machine.
According to police, Chang said he urgently needed the cash to pay back a large sum of money of which he had been defrauded.
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