Suspicious: Police remove the homemade bomb from the scene. Picture: Wayne Hawkins
Suspicious: Police remove the homemade bomb from the scene. Picture: Wayne Hawkins
Suspicious: Police remove the homemade bomb from the scene. Picture: Wayne Hawkins
Suspicious: Police remove the homemade bomb from the scene. Picture: Wayne Hawkins
A HOME-MADE bomb found on a Croydon doorstep last week was no more than ‘‘an elaborate hoax’’, Maroondah police have confirmed.
Last Thursday police were called to a block of units in Dorset Road where distressed nearby occupants reported finding an LPG gas cylinder with wires hanging off it at the front door of one of the homes.
The Victoria Police bomb squad was called in and used a bomb disposal robot to help deem the area safe.
‘‘It was an elaborate hoax,’’ said Detective Sergeant Glenn Keyte of Maroondah CIU.
‘‘It was good, however, to see that all residents and patrons were very compliant during the process.’’
Police believe the gas bottle was placed there to scare the resident of the unit, but neighbours have told the Weekly they thought the residence had been vacant for about a month.
Neighbours said a woman aged in her late 20s was the last person known to live there.
The front screen door of the unit appeared to have no handle when inspected and the garden was littered with cigarette butts and soft drink cans.
While some neighbours did not want to comment on the bomb scare beyond saying ‘‘it was a complex issue’’, nearby resident Danielle Royle said people came in and out of the unit all the time.
Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call the Maroondah CIU on 98713060 or Crime Stoppers on 1800333000.