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THE jailing of an Indonesian for an SMS bomb hoax in Penang recently has not deterred others from such mischief.

On Sunday, a copycat hoaxer sent an SMS to police stating that explosives had been planted on the Penang Bridge, Komtar and Gurney Drive, Sin Chew Daily reported yesterday.

Penang deputy CID chief Supt Razali Basri said the state police operations room received the SMS at 5.25pm.

He said that although such SMSes in the past had turned out to be hoaxes, police took no chances.

Razali said plain clothes Special Branch officers and a bomb detection squad searched the three locations without raising an alarm.

"The SMS turned out to be a hoax and the three areas are safe," he said.

Police wanted to avoid causing a panic among the Sunday crowds at the locations, Razali said, adding that police had reason to believe the pranksters intended to create fear and alarm in Gurney Plaza where a beauty contest was being held.

He said initial investigations showed that the SMS was sent by a prepaid user, making it difficult to trace the sender's identity.

Police are investigating the incident under Section 505 (b) of the Penal Code which provides for a sentence of up to two years imprisonment or a fine or both.

On Oct 5, Indonesian salesman Kurniawan was sentenced to 25 months in prison for sending police an SMS on Aug 9 stating that bombs had been placed at Komtar, Burmah House and Gurney Drive.

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