SB officer nearly lost hand in Simunul attack, court told

KOTA KINABALU: A Bukit Aman Special Branch officer nearly lost one of his hands in an attack on security forces at Kampung Sri Jaya, Simunul in Semporna last year, the High Court here heard today.
ASP Mohamad Hasnal Jamil said he sustained slash wounds on his right hand, which was "dangling and nearly severed".
Relating his ordeal that resulted in his injury, he said at about 7.30pm on March 2 last year, while conducting a raid with 56 police officers and personnel to arrest an individual known as "Imam Tua", the village was suddenly showered with bullets and he was hit on the left side if his stomach and immediately laid on his stomach in front of a house.
During that time, he said he was with his superior, the late Superintendent Ibrahim Lebar, who was also shot, and another officer, who were also lying on their stomachs.
"When I was lying on my stomach, I felt my head was hit three times with a sharp object.
"I looked up and saw a man trying to hit me again.
"I got up to fend off the man's attack by using both of my hands," he said.
Mohamad Hasnal told the court that when he saw the late Ibrahim getting up and running away from where they had lied on their stomachs, he followed suit and left his attacker.
However, he saw his attacker chasing him with one hand carrying a long sharp object raised in the air.
"While running, I stumbled on a piece of wood and fell which caused my attacker to try and attack me once again," he said.
During the man's second attempt to attack the Special Branch officer, Mohamad Hasnal said he heard a bullet whiz pass his right ear and hit his attacker.
Asked by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed if he knew who had made the shot, he said it was Sergeant Mustafa Kamal Ngah from the Sabah Special Branch.
Asked by Abdul Wahab to continue, Mohamad Hasnal said, "I was drawn by Mustafa into a house to take cover. I saw the late Ibrahim lying on the verandah of the house where we took cover."
He said the following day at about 2.30pm, he heard the door of the house being rammed and people shouting.
He said Semporna Special Branch officer Inspector Khairulnizam Husin told him that a rescue operation was being carried out by VAT69 Commandos to rescue the police personnel trapped in the village.
"At that time, Khairulnizam told us to take off our shirts in order to differentiate the police force and the intruders," he said.
Mohamad Hasnal said he was taken by ambulance to the Semporna Hospital where he was treated for two hours before being flown to Tawau Hospital in a police helicopter.
After being warded for three days at the Tawau Hospital, he said he was flown by a Malaysia Airlines plane to Kuala Lumpur where he continued receiving treatment at the Selayang Hospital for two weeks.
Apart from sustaining injuries on his right hand, Mohamad Hasnal said he also suffered injuries due to being shot on his stomach, slash wounds on his left hand and injuries on the back of his head as well as a torn scalp.
He also said he had been referred to a psychiatrist as he was suspected of suffering traumatic stress disorder.
Thirty accused, comprising 27 Filipinos and three local residents, are being tried in the case, in which some are facing multiple charges of being members of a terrorist group or waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, recruiting members for a terrorist group or wilfully harbouring individuals they knew to be members of a terrorist group.
They allegedly committed the offences between Feb 12 and April 10 last year.
The hearing before Justice Stephen Chung at the Sabah Prisons Department continues tomorrow. – Bernama