New Delhi: Australian police on Thursday charged a 49-year-old man for sending as many as 38 packages containing a hazardous material to diplomatic embassies and consulates across the country.
More than a dozen foreign offices at several diplomatic missions in Melbourne, including the Indian Consulate, received suspicious packages on Wednesday, prompting Australian authorities to launch a major emergency response.
The man, named as Savas Avan, was charged with sending dangerous articles through a postal service, an offence that carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a statement.
Police said the packages contained asbestos, once a popular building material that can cause cancer and scaring of the lungs.
Police, who have recovered 29 of the parcels, said they would intercept the rest. They gave no additional details of how the asbestos was packaged or what the motive might have been.
Australian media on Wednesday said the parcels appeared to contain plastic bags of concrete and asbestos, with “asbestos” written on at least one of the bags.
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The Age newspaper said one firefighter was seen outside the South Korean consulate carrying a large plastic bag with the word “asbestos” written on it.
The United Kingdom Consulate, located on Collins Street, along with the Korean Consulate (St Kilda Road), German Consulate (Queen Street), Italian Consulate (St Kilda Road), Swiss Consulate (Ashwood), Pakistan Consulate (Cardigan Place), Greek Consulate (Albert Road) and the Indonesian Consulate (Queens Road) were also believed to have been affected.
The incident came just two days after a “suspicious” white powder was found at the Argentinian Consulate in Sydney.
Avan, who was originally said by police to be 48 years old, will next appear in court in March.
There was no ongoing threat to the general public, the AFP said.
Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) said it had sent an email to all diplomatic missions in Canberra this week, after three offices in the capital and Sydney received suspicious packages. It subsequently sent similar advice to missions elsewhere. “The note advised missions to handle mail in accordance with their own government’s protocols and instructions,” a DFAT spokesman said.
(With agency inputs)