Abduction an 'inside job'

KUNAK: Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek believes the abduction of a fish breeder and a worker at a fish farm in Kampung Air Sapang here on Sunday was the work of an "inside man" based on the findings that the criminals knew the area very well.
"It is an isolated area, surrounded by islands, only those who live and work in the area could find their way to the centre," he told reporters after visiting the area today.
"Soon after being informed of the abduction, ESSCom ordered several assets to be sent to places identified as exit routes. "But, the suspects could have used alternative routes to escape," he added.
Mohammad said preliminary investigation also revealed that the modus operandi of recent abduction was similar to the one at Pulau Baik, Lahad Datu, last May 6. Both groups used the workers to point out the owners and the way they operated.
He said ESSCom was now facing cross-border crimes which were master-minded by people who had been staying for a long time in the state especially in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone). In the incident which occurred about 12.40am on Sunday, the owner of the fish farm, Chan Sai Chiun, 32, from Ipoh,
Perak and a worker, known only as Mazlan, in his 20s, were abducted by two armed-men.
It is the third abduction case reported in the east coast of Sabah this year. The first was on May 6 when five armed-men abducted a manager of a fish breeding company, who is a Chinese national, at Pulau Baik in Lahad Datu, and a month later, of a Chinese national tourist at a resort in Semporna. – Bernama