SEMPORNA: The diving coach who died during a diving activity in Pulau Kelapuan near here on Friday had received a death threat before, police revealed.
In fact, Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said that Zainal Abdun, 31, had lodged a police report on the threat last year.
Omar said the police were in the midst of investigating the death of the victim and would look into all the angles and evidence.
“We are also looking into the police report lodged by the deceased,” he said when met by reporters here today after surveying the location at which Zainal and two Chinese tourists - Zhao Zheng and Xu Yingjie, both 32, - were killed while diving in waters near the island.
Omar said initial investigations and post-mortem reports revealed that the victims had died as a direct result of a fish bomb explosion.
We are now looking for witnesses at the Kalapuan resort island who are believed to have heard the explosion on the day of the incident,” he said, adding that the police had previously classified the case as murder under Section 302 of the Penal Code.
Omar said the authorities were facing challenges to tackle fish bombing activities that had been rampant to the extent of causing death.
“Enforcement cannot be carried out effectively due to the vast area of Sabah waters.
“Fishermen who use these explosives are also very smart, they use small boats that can pass through the coral reefs where our (enforcement) boats cannot go through,” he said.
However, he said that didn’t mean the police and the other authorities were admitting defeat, in fact, efforts would be doubled to deal with the problem.
Omar also agreed that there was a need for security agencies to monitor diving sites, especially in the less familiar areas.
“We urge diving organisers to notify security agencies about their activities and programmes to avoid untoward incidents.
“Likewise, tourists who want to visit islands in Sabah for diving activities should make sure that the company they engaged is a licensed tour agency,” he added. — Bernama
