Fugitive police detainee caught in less than 24 hours

KOTA BARU: A detainee who escaped while being transported to the Tanah Merah district police headquarters yesterday, was rearrested in less than 24 hours due to swift action by the police.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Hasanuddin Hassan said the 28-year-old man, who slipped out of his handcuffs and fled at Jalan Kubur in Tanah Merah at 5.25pm, was arrested again in Taman Muhibbah Jaya at 7am today.
"I would like to congratulate the police team who placed so much efforts to track down the suspect until they recaptured him in less than 24 hours," he told reporters at the Kelantan police contingent headquarters here today.
The incident occurred when the suspect was being transported in a van from the Pengkalan Chepa Prison along with four other detainees for a trial which was scheduled at a Tanah Merah court today.
Hasanuddin said following a public tip-off, the suspect was rearrested outside a car garage in front of a house in Taman Muhibbah Jaya about 1.5km away from where the man escaped from police custody.
The suspect had 17 criminal records including drug, house break-in and vehicle theft cases, he said.
Hasanuddin also said police were now investigating the two policemen on duty during the incident. — Bernama