[letmein]

Kidnap victim left in car with 'bomb belt'

Police are hunting a kidnap gang who tied up and apparently tortured an Asian man before dumping him in a car in a busy city centre, surrounded by a belt of canisters which they claimed were a bomb.

A huge alert in Birmingham disrupted one of the country's busiest railway stations and led to the evacuation of factories and workshops while army explosives experts checked out the scene.

A police helicopter hovered overhead as officers sealed off the area, closing an adventure park and offering 15 residents and workers temporary refuge in a council leisure centre.

The restrictions were eased after the man, who had been reported to be foaming at the mouth by a witness before the 500-metre cordon was imposed, was taken to hospital with a broken leg and shock.

Speaking at the scene in Saltley, the head of the inquiry, Chief Superintendent Tom Coughlan, said the victim had told officers that he was forced into the car before being told about the bomb. He said: "This incident has now become a criminal investigation. We are seeking to establish the actual nature of the device that was placed in the car."

The canisters, the size of beer cans, were designed to hold camping gas. They have been taken for examination by the army team. Coughlan said they would be examined for any trace of explosives, but the soldiers had not had to carry out any defusing or controlled explosions.

"Possibly this has been done to scare the man. It is reprehensible," he said. "It placed not only the victim but members of the public and the emergency services at risk."

The alarm was raised at 10.20am yesterday when a lorry driver passing through the largely industrial area reported the car as suspicious.

He told 999 operators that the man inside had his hands tied and appeared to be semi-conscious. Officers responding to the call got no response from a distance, and checks of the car's registration failed to identify the victim. Trains on the west coast mainline were halted.

The Wheels adventure park, which hosts radio-controlled car rallies and stock car races, including a major annual event for Children in Need, was also shut. Officers escorted people from workplaces and a row of houses, allowing them back at the end of the afternoon.

The "bomb belt" was made up of half-a-dozen gas canisters, which would have killed the man if the gas had ignited, as well as exploding the car's petrol tank. Apart from the police helicopter, a no-fly zone was imposed on the area, causing diversions for light aircraft operating out of Birmingham airport.

Firefighters were on standby at the scene throughout the day, while council staff prepared meals and shelter and Saltley leisure centre.

Ayoub Khan, cabinet member for community safety on Birmingham city council, said an eyewitness had told him that the man in the car was of Asian origin and in his 30s.

Khan said: "He said he saw foam coming out of the man's mouth and said he was unconscious." The witness said that the canisters appeared to be tied round the man like a belt.



http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2009/ap...p-bomb-station

[arista]

'The "bomb belt" was made up of half-a-dozen gas canisters'


home made bomb belt.
Hardly a UK Alert.



The last Pathetic Brown UK Alert (a week back)
resulted in all 12 asian men going free
Fact.