'Bomb' found in Ang Mo Kio industrial estate: Affected businesses unhappy over mismanagement of simulation exercise

A forgotten fake 'bomb' resulted in a chain of disruptions to businesses, with owners threatening to take action against the security company who conducted the simulation exercise.

The incident occurred on Friday (Jan 5) after a security guard alerted the police about a 'bomb' in an industrial building at Block 32 of Ang Mo Kio Industrial Estate 2.

The suspected explosive device turned out to be a dud. 

According to Shin Min Daily News, a construction manager surnamed Wang shared that the object was allegedly left behind after the security company conducted a drill in the early hours of the morning at around 4am. 

He stated that a participant in the simulation exercise had placed the dud on a parked motorcycle about two metres away from the security office.

Said Wang: "The person knocked on the window of the security office but did not see anyone. Another security staff member who reported for duty this morning then discovered the suspicious item and notified the police."

In photos provided to Shin Min, the fake explosives appeared to be made with three cylindrical objects sealed together with black tape.

Following the call, police and the Singapore Civil Defence Force soon arrived at the scene. 

Wang, 52, told the Chinese evening daily that police cordoned off the area for several hours and vehicles were not allowed to enter the compound.

This caused significant disruption to businesses in the estate, Wang claimed, adding that he is not ruling out taking legal action against the security company.

Another business owner surnamed Liu shared that her employees had informed her when they went to work this morning that all vehicles were not allowed to enter the area and they could only wait in a nearby coffee shop temporarily.

Shin Min reported that police investigations on-site lasted for three hours until about 11.30am.

According to The Straits Times on Saturday (Jan 6), police said they were alerted to a suspicious item at Ang Mo Kio Industrial Park 2 at about 8.20am. The device was later found to be of no threat.

In a statement provided by the police, it said: "Poor management of the exercise resulted in the activation of actual police resources to the scene and more than 100 people were inconvenienced as they were prevented from entering the premises due to the ongoing checks."

The incident is being investigated under the Protection from Harassment Act.

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syarifahsn@asiaone.com