A second armed attack, days after a kidnapping here, has caught the police and security authorities, in the midst of a major search and rescue mission, off guard.
Police confirmed that they had received a report that a group of seven heavily armed men raided a fish landing platform in Indasabah waters off Tawau district three days after two cousins were abducted from their property in Tungku, Felda, Sabahat 15 by five armed men.
In the second case that took place late Saturday, the men, said to have been armed with M16 rifles, only took away a 40kg bag of ikan bilis (anchovies) worth RM350 and left after failing to spot the lone Filipino worker at the facility.
Police said initial reports indicated that the men approached the platform situated out at sea in a small boat equipped with two 40 horsepower engines and left minutes later with only the bag of fish.
Sabah Marine Police chief, SAC Abdul Manaf Osman said a police report was lodged early next day (Sunday) and that Marine Police had dispatched three patrol vessels to the scene.
He said based on the report and initial investigations the men who raided the platform at about 8:30pm were dressed as civilians but wore masks and spoke in the Sulug dialect.
“A Filipino worker in his 20s was on the platform when they arrived. He saw that they were armed and fearing for his safety, hid in a small compartment. When the armed men left minutes later, he came out and found a bag of ikan bilis missing.
“We had since intensified our search operation in and around the area. All boats plying the route were checked thoroughly but so far we had yet to detect the whereabouts of this group,” Abdul Manaf said.
Incidents not related
Meanwhile, Lahad Datu district police chief, Supt Shumsudin Mat, when contacted, said police believe the incident was unrelated to last week’s abduction of the manager and assistant manager of Lian Hin Lee Plantation Sdn Bhd.
“We are waiting for our Tawau counterparts to provide us with more details of the case, but so far our intelligence shows no connection between the two cases,” he said.
However, he described the report about men with high-powered weapons prowling Sabah waters and leaving with just a bag of fish, as strange.
“Let’s think about it… isn’t it ridiculous for such heavily armed men to just come for 40 kilos of fresh ikan bilis? Something is definitely not right here. That’s why we need to verify the details first,” he said.
There has been some speculation that the visit by heavily armed men to the platform was possibly a smuggling deal that went wrong.
Shumsudin brushed aside talk that the men were part of the group that carried out the abduction last Wednesday and that they were unable to leave Sabah waters due to bad weather and were looking for food.
“If that’s the case, why should they go so far [Tawau] to search for food and risk exposing themselves when they can find it around this area (Lahad Datu)?” he asked.
He also said there were no new developments on the kidnapping case and the abductors have yet to make any contact with the family of the victims. (FMT)
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Second Attack In Sabah Waters
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Polis kata keselamatan di Sabah terkawal!
ReplyDeleteitu duit pembayar cukai..orang BN bayar dan orang Pakatan pun bayar...banyak pulak di balun oleh Puak BN...rakyat dapat hampas aje...
ReplyDeletePenilaian prestasi bukan setakat $ $ $ sahaja. Dasarnya, kerajaan yang penyayang mesti membukti sikap menghormati rakyat jelata.
ReplyDeletekena tingkatkan lagi kawalan diperairan negara kita.
ReplyDeleteKita mahukan sebuah Malaysia yang aman daripada ancaman luar dan dalaman, di mana kawasan kejiranan dan jalan-jalannya bebas daripada jenayah.
ReplyDeleteBagi memastikan kesejahteraan dan keselamatan, Perdana Menteri berkata ia memerlukan pendekatan yang bersepadu serta rakyat Malaysia yang lebih prihatin dan peduli kepada keluarga, jiran-jiran, rakan-rakan dan kepada rakyat Malaysia seluruhnya.
ReplyDeletekerajaan akan memastikan agensi-agensi yang bertanggungjawab akan lebih berkesan untuk menangani cabaran mencegah jenayah era mutakhir.
ReplyDeleteusaha membanteras jenayah memerlukan kaedah pencegahan jenayah yang baru, serta kepimpinan yang dinamik, akauntabiliti yang tinggi, struktur organisasi yang lebih sesuai, latihan yang lebih relevan serta peralatan yang moden
ReplyDeleteKerajaan akan menambah bilangan anggota polis dengan menyediakan peruntukan tambahan bagi pengambilan pegawai polis baharu dan pembelian peralatan canggih untuk mengurangkan kejadian jenayah.
ReplyDeleteI think the kidnappers are still in sabah who knows they are working as house builder or......cigar sellers vendors they the informers when sabah is under attack by neibouring country
ReplyDeletePerlu perketatkan lagi kawalan yang sedia ada.
ReplyDeletePolice will focus on efforts to eradicate drug smuggling and trafficking activities in water villages, especially in Sabah and Sarawak.
ReplyDeleteNarcotic Crime Investigation Department Director Datuk Noor Rashid Ibrahim said it is aimed at busting small-time drug dealers who are actively operating in these areas.
ReplyDelete"There are a number of water villages in the State here and these are the hot spot locations, even in Brunei Darussalam, that we have identified to address the problem, effectively.
ReplyDelete"These small-time dealers have the upper hand in the water villages as they are very familiar with the alleys and routes which enable them to easily escape police and arrest during our raids.
ReplyDelete"In fact, they even know how to run away from police using the furthest corners of the roads in the area," he said, adding the police will initially use their own approaches before conducting integrated operations with other law enforcement.
ReplyDeleteNoor Rashid said the police is focussing on eliminating drug trafficking activities in these areas so as to reduce demand as well as buyers.
ReplyDelete"We can address this social problem provided the public render full cooperation in channeling vital information and tip-offs in regards to the illegal activities.
"As a matter of fact, two-way communication between us and the society is the key to police success in making drug busts," he said.
ReplyDeleteTo a question, he said drug trafficking activities by the small-time dealers are significant and a problem to the society, however, it is still under control.