KOTA KINABALU: The High Court here heard yesterday that the late VAT69 commando, Corporal Sabaruddin Daud had taken cover when a shootout occurred at Kampung Tanduo, Lahad Datu on March 1, last year.
ASP Bingkok John said he did not see the late corporal get shot by the intruders as he had thought Sabaruddin was well protected behind an oil palm.
“He (Sabaruddin) was behind one oil palm. There was another tree between him and I.
“I only knew he had been shot after the shootout ended,” he said.
Bingkok, who was assigned to conduct close reconnaissance with team B, said Sabaruddin was seriously injured in the head.
After the one-hour shootout ended, Bingkok said, he did not inspect the place of skirmish with his team leader, Supt Mancha Ata.
Instead, he was instructed by Mancha to arrange for Sabaruddin’s body to be taken out of the operation area.
Asked by deputy public prosecutor Datuk Abdul Wahab Mohamed to whom Sabaruddin’s body was handed over to, he said it was to a General Operations Force (GOF) personnel.
On the shootout, Bingkok said 35 to 40 armed intruders started shooting at him and his team seconds after one of the intruders shouted: “Tiger, berambus kau dari sini, ini bumi kami.” (Tiger, get lost from here, this is our land).
Asked by Abdul Wahab who was the intruder referring to when he uttered the word “Tiger”, Bingkok said his team.
During cross-examination, Bingkok said he did not know if the GOF men stood as backup for the five VAT69 teams conducting close reconnaissance at Kampung Tanduo on March 1, 2013.
“In particular, is it correct that the backup team for Team B was a GOF team called Tiger Batallion 17 whose commanding officer was Supt Edward Comoral?” asked counsel Datuk N Sivananthan, to which Bingkok said he did not know.
The commando also disagreed with counsel that according to a press statement by Edward, the skirmish had lasted 10 minutes.
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, 2013.
The hearing before Justice Stephen Chung at the Sabah Prisons Department continues today. — Bernama