KOTA KINABALU: Five foreigners, believed to be workers of a fish farm, have been detained by police following the kidnapping of a Malaysian fish farm operator at Kampung Air Sapang in Kunak at 12.40am on Monday.
Sabah Crime Investigation Department (CID) chief SAC Omar Mammah said the foreign workers, in their 20s and 30s, and without any valid documents, were held to assist police in their investigation.
“All five men were detained by police on Monday evening to assist us in our investigation.
“Initial police investigation shows that they are workers at the fish farm where the incident took place,” he said yesterday.
Two masked gunmen kidnapped fish farm operator Chan Sai Chiun, 32, from Ipoh, and a Filipino worker known only as Mazlan in his 20s, from the farm at Kampung Air Sapang in Kunak at 12.40am on Monday.
The fish farm is located 10 kilometers from Kunak town and 500 meters from the mainland.
Chan started operating the fish farm with two partners in April.
Meanwhile, Omar said the police were trying to track down Mazlan who had since gone missing after claiming to have managed to escape from the abductors yesterday.
Omar however said the police have no clues of the whereabouts of Mazlan.
“All we know is that a person, who claims to be Mazlan, had gone to meet up with one of the fish farm owners and told him that he was well and safe.
“At the moment we are unable to confirm if the person is actually Mazlan, and hope he would come forward to help us in our investigation,” he said.
According to Omar, police investigation revealed that Mazlan had told his employer that he managed to escape from his kidnappers by jumping off the boat and swimming towards the mangrove area where he hid till morning.
“He then met up with one of the fish farm owners about 10am, and told him what had happened, and then disappeared.
“We believe that Mazlan has no documents, thus forcing him to hide.
“However, we hope he would come and assist us into our investigations and get to the bottom of this issue,” said Omar.
This is the third kidnapping incident within three months this year, and the fourth of such cases since the establishment of the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom) in March 2013.
On November 15 last year, a Taiwanese tourist, Chang An Wei, 58, was kidnapped from a resort on Pom Pom Island off Semporna while her companion, Li Min Hsu, 57, was murdered. Chang was freed a month later in December after a sizable ransom was reportedly paid for her release.
On April 2, a Shanghainese tourist, Gao Hua Yun, 29, and a Filipino worker, Marcy Dayawan @ Mimi, 40, were abducted by an armed group from the Singamata Adventure and Reef Resort off Semporna. The duo were released following a joint operation between the Malaysian and Philippine authorities on May 30, also after a hefty ransom was reportedly paid to secure their release.
On May 6, Chinese national Yang Zai Lin, a fish farm manager was abducted from Pulau Nail in Lahad Datu. Yang is still in captivity.