LAHAD DATU: Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director general Datuk Mohammad Mentek said that the criminal cases at Pom-Pom Island, a tourist destination in Semporna, earlier today had no relation to the intrusion case.
As such, he urged the public to keep calm and not to make any speculations with regards to the case.
He said that the case was an isolated case committed by a group of criminals. He confirmed the incident that happened at around 1am involved two Taiwanese tourists.
In the case, a 57-year-old man was shot dead in a chalet while a 56-year-old woman was believed to have been kidnapped by an unknown group.
“At the moment, we don’t have any information on who is responsible and the police are investigating the motive of the event. Therefore, I advise the public not to panic because eastern Sabah is under control. We will await police investigation and do not speculate on the matter,” he said at a press conference at Esscom headquarters, Marine Police Base today.
Following the incident, Mohammad urged security personnel at control posts, especially at tourist spot islands to increase their security level and to patrol the area more frequently.
“We do not want a repeat of the incident,” he said, adding that Esscom will strengthen security especially boats facility.
He said that Esscom also plans to hold a meeting with tourist operators to discuss on measures to increase secutiry at their respective businesses.
Mohammad said that there was a need to evaluate all security steps provided by tourism operators.