16 November, Vitebsk / Diana Kurilo - BELTA/. The Pervomaisky District (Vitebsk city) Department of the Investigative Committee of the Republic of Belarus has initiated a criminal case regarding a false report of a bomb threat at the Vitebsk Cold Storage Plant, as reported to BELTA by the official representative of the Investigative Committee Department of the Republic of Belarus for the Vitebsk Region, Inna Gorbacheva. As previously reported, on 14 November, the operational duty service of the Department of Internal Affairs received information that an explosive device had been planted on the territory of the Vitebsk Cold Storage Plant. 93 people were evacuated from the enterprise premises. During the inspection, no explosive items were found; however, a mock explosive device was discovered, consisting of a paper bag with sugar, on the packaging of which handwritten text "Caution mine" was applied. As a result of operational-search activities, officers of the Department of Internal Affairs of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, in cooperation with the Investigative Committee Department of the Republic of Belarus for the Vitebsk Region, and the KGB Department for the Vitebsk Region, detained a resident of Vitebsk born in 1976, previously not convicted, a few hours later. During the investigation, it was established that the man wanted to check how law enforcement agencies react to a bomb threat report. The caller was detained based on Article 108 of the Criminal Procedure Code of the Republic of Belarus. A criminal case has been initiated under Part 1 of Article 340 of the Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus - knowingly false report of danger. The sanction of the article provides for punishment in the form of imprisonment for up to five years. The individual has been charged. A measure of restraint in the form of detention has been selected. The amount of damage from the forced suspension of the cold storage plant's operation, as well as the material costs incurred by the services dispatched to the scene, are being determined. -0-

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