Kaohsiung and Taichung police yesterday made arrests in two separate cases in which people posted bomb threats online, saying they would bomb trains and government buildings.
In the Kaohsiung case, police searched a residence in Zihguan District (梓官) and arrested a man surnamed Hung (洪) who allegedly wrote that he would bomb the Kaohsiung MRT system, Taiwan High Speed Rail (THSR) trains and government buildings.
Investigators displayed statements that they said Hung wrote on the Web site of the Railway Police Bureau’s Taipei Office after 7:30pm on Saturday.
TAKING REVENGE
“I bought bombs with clocks online ... to take revenge on selfish people,” the messages read. “The bags [for the bombs] have been prepared and I have surreptitiously placed them on MRT trains and THSR rail trains.”
Authorities acted quickly, boosting security measures on the Taipei MRT and on all THSR trains, while police cybercrime units traced a suspect behind the IP address from which they received the threats.
When police located Hung and searched his residence, they found the threatening messages on his notebook computer and detained him for questioning as prosecutors sought to file charges of issuing threats against public safety.
Hung told police he does not know how to make bombs, they said, quoting him as saying: “My job is not going well and I am having financial difficulty, so it was just a way to vent my frustration.”
TAICHUNG MAYOR
In the other case, the Criminal Investigation Bureau joined Taichung police to arrest two high-school students surnamed Hou (侯) and Liao (廖), who they said had threatened to “blow up Taichung Railway Station and assassinate [Taichung Mayor] Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍).”
The threats were posted on March 23 and at first police traced them to a 14-year-old student surnamed Hsu (許), they said, adding that Hsu turned out to have passed his Facebook account name and password to someone else while chatting in the game World of Tanks.
Several days of investigation brought police to Hou and Liao, they said, adding that after their arrest, they found out that the two had formed a “High School Terrorist Strike Unit” together with another high-school-age player of World of Tanks in Hong Kong surnamed Yuen (袁).
JUST FOR FUN
The two suspects caused public fear because, besides threatening to bomb the train station and to assassinate the mayor, they said they would kill people on a public square and would strike at a nearby military base, Taichung Criminal Investigation Unit Deputy Captain Chao Jui-sheng (趙瑞昇) said.
“The two suspects during questioning said that they only did it for fun and did not know they were breaking the law,” Chao said.
Prosecutors would charge them with issuing threats against public safety and, as the suspects are underage, the case would be handled by the Juvenile Court in accordance with the Juvenile Delinquency Act (少年事件處理法), Chao said.
Taiwanese authorities have notified and passed information in the case to their counterparts in Hong Kong, who would investigate Yuen’s involvement, he said.
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr arrived in Taiwan last night to kick off his first visit to the country since beginning his second term earlier this year. After arriving at Taoyuan International Airport at around 6:30 pm, Whipps and his delegation were welcomed by Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍). Speaking to gathered media, the Palauan leader said he was excited and honored to be back in Taiwan on his first state visit to Taiwan since he was sworn in this January. Among those traveling with Whipps is Minister of State Gustav N. Aitaro, Public Infrastructure
President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday thanked Palau for its continued support of Taiwan's international participation, as Taipei was once again excluded from the World Health Assembly (WHA) currently taking place in Switzerland. "Palau has never stopped voicing support for Taiwan" in the UN General Assembly, the WHO and other UN-affiliated agencies, Lai said during a bilateral meeting with visiting Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. "We have been profoundly touched by these endorsements," Lai said, praising the Pacific island nation's firm support as "courageous." Lai's remarks came as Taiwan was excluded for the ninth consecutive year from the WHA, which is being held in
RESOLUTIONS DEBATE: Taiwan’s allies said that UN and WHA resolutions cited by China and other nations ‘do not determine Taiwan’s participation in WHO activities’ A proposal to invite Taiwan to this year’s World Health Assembly (WHA) was rejected on Monday, resulting in Taipei’s absence from the annual meeting for a ninth consecutive year, although partners spoke up for Taiwan’s participation at the first day of the meeting. The first agenda item after the opening was a “two-on-two debate” on a proposal to invite Taiwan to participate at the WHA as an observer. Similar to previous years, two countries made statements in favor of the proposal, while two others expressed their opposition. Philippine Secretary of Health Teodoro Herbosa, president of the 78th WHA, accepted the WHA General Committee’s
At least three people died and more than a dozen were injured yesterday afternoon when a vehicle struck a group of pedestrians in New Taipei City’s Sansia District (三峽). The incident happened at about 4pm when a car rammed into pedestrians at an intersection near Bei Da Elementary School. Witnesses said the sedan, being driven at a high speed, ran a red light, knocking scooters out of the way and hitting students crossing the road before careening into a median near the intersection of Guocheng and Guoguang streets. The incident resulted in three deaths and 13 injuries, including the driver, a 78-year-old man
RSS