Post by Focus on Jun 23, 2013 21:53:06 GMT
Superintendent Keith Fraser, the head of crime and operations for Walsall Police, says the area around a mosque in Walsall has been made safe after a suspicious package was found nearby late on Saturday.
A suspicious item found near a mosque is being treated as a hate crime, police said.
Almost 40 homes close to the place of worship in Rutter Street, Walsall, were evacuated after bomb disposal experts were called to the scene.
West Midlands Police said the discovery was reported last night and around 150 people were told to leave their homes as a "precautionary and temporary" measure.
The item had been found on Friday and taken inside the mosque by a well-meaning member of the public, a police spokesman added.
Superintendent Keith Fraser, the head of crime and operations for Walsall Police, said the incident was being treated as hate crime but the motive for placing the item near a mosque remained unclear.
Speaking at the scene, he said: "At around 10.15pm on Saturday, police were called to Aisha mosque in relation to a suspicious item that had been found.
"The force are taking this extremely seriously.
"We have launched a full investigation into the suspicious item that has been found, and what's going to be the key to this is the public's help in relation to helping us to understand why that suspicious item was in the area."
He added: "Officers are continuing to work hard to establish what the item is and how it got there but the incident is being treated as a hate crime, although the motive for placing the item near to the mosque remains unclear."
Mr Fraser, who confirmed that the suspicious item is now safe and is being examined by trained experts, also appealed for the media not to speculate about what had been found.
He continued: "Obviously there are going to be a number of hypotheses around this suspicious item, what I would ask is that we work with what we know at the moment.
"The investigation is at a very, very early stage.
"Hypotheses which raise people's concern about what may or may not have happened would not be helpful at this stage.
"I would ask that we keep things in perspective."
"A suspicious item found near a mosque is being treated as a hate crime" police said - Bloody hell, it's just a shame that the police didn't label the barbaric murder of Lee 'drummer' Rigby a 'hate crime' - but God forbid they upset the muzzies ... fcking cowards!! - Fx
