Island-wide Hunting for Mas Selamat
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MORE than 100 SAF soldiers have joined the island-wide manhount for Singapore's most wanted man, Mas Selamat Kastari, the leader of the Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network, who escaped from detention on Wednesday afternoon.
The SAF military police and guardsmen were brought in at about 6.30 am on Thursday to beef up the huge security blockcade around the wooded Malcolm Park, near the Singapore Chinese Girls' School and the vicinity.
They arrived in a convoy, which included a 5-tonner truck, several Land rovers, and quickly took up positions along with the hundreds of police, special operations and Gurkha forces that have been massing overnight in the area near the Whitley Road Detention Centre, where the JI militant fled at about 4.05 pm on Wednesday, sparking the biggest island-wide manhunt.
Residents leaving the areas near Goldhill Avenue, Barker Road and Malcolm Park, had their cars scrutinised and even had to open their boots on Thursday morning, causing a long traffic tailback along Dunean Road.
Students of SCGS, St Joseph Institution and Anglo Chinese School were advised by their principals and teachers to stay calm and vigilant and told of why they were surrounded by a strong police presence.
But this was not reassuring enough for many parents who decided to pull their children out of school for the day.
One mother, who would only give her name as Ms Tan, said she was taking her primary school daughter home because she felt 'uneasy' and preferred to have the girl at home.
In SCGS alone, more than half a dozen parents were seen leaving with their daughters when they were told of the manhunt for the runaway terror leader. All the schools in the vicinity were carefully combed by the police forces before the students turned up.
The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a brief statement on Wednesday night about the escaped leader. It said Mas Selamat walks with a limp, and was not believed to be armed.
The escaped terror leader, 47, took over as head of the JI network here in 1999, and later plotted to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport.
Officers seen checking houses, vehicles
Late on Wednesday night, officers with flashlights were seen going house to house along Malcolm Road, near St Joseph's Institution and behind Catholic Junior College, questioning residents and checking the leafy neighbourhood.
Elsewhere, officers stopped vehicles at roadblocks
questioned residents, and showed pictures of Mas Selamat.
The alert also went out to all border checkpoints, the Police Coast Guard, and even taxi companies, which broadcast a message to cabbies telling them to look out for the suspect.
Scores of plainclothes police officers also swarmed convenience stores and petrol stations, going through the leafy neighbourhood.
The lockdown, from late afternoon through the night, gave the whole area an almost surreal feel, with scores of police vehicles flashing blue and white lights lined up along the roads.
There were roadblocks at several areas, and grim-faced personnel, their neon green work vests glowing in the glare of lights, checked car boots and spoke urgently into walkie-talkies. The huge uniformed presence signalled immediately to residents of the affected areas that something big was going on.
Some residents worried
Mrs Jasmine Lim, 42, whose car was checked as she entered Goldhill Estate where she lives, said some residents were worried.
The mother of four said she called her two older children, aged 22 and 19, and told them to get home early. 'I have a security alarm that I normally don't activate so early, but tonight I will,' she said.
Senior accounts manager Terry Chia, 44, said police stopped him on his way home and showed him a picture of Mas Selamat.
He did not think anything of it at the time, but said he began to worry when he learnt that the escapee was a JI detainee.
The Indonesian-born JI leader escaped a dragnet that resulted in the detention of 13 JI members here in December 2001. The group had been planning to attack targets here.
While in hiding, Mas Selamat plotted to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport. The plot was foiled. He was arrested in Indonesia twice, before being handed over to Singapore in February 2006, and has been detained under the Internal Security Act since March that year.from http://www.straitstimes.com/Latest%2BNews/Singapore/STIStory_211339.html
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more than tat lor when I happened to pass by today
maybe if talking abt the part near SCGS, yes
Anyway that side called off le
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more den 24hrs le..
still no news
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So that's why so many army and police along that road during lunch time
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While being led to the room to meet his family, he asked to go to the toilet and gave his escorting officers the slip.
siao liao. don't know how many extras this poor officer is going to sign.
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can i joined in the manhunt? =x
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Well, they should had like wait outside the cubicle....
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mistakes happen. this is really a test for the police and saf.
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Originally posted by caleb_chiang:
Well, they should had like wait outside the cubicle....
He might have escaped through the toilet bowl.
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Originally posted by Gordonator:
siao liao. don't know how many extras this poor officer is going to sign.
It doesn't matter how many extra he's going to sign. When something like this happen, it mean this officer can forget about getting any promotion ever in his life ("marked" forever).
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are any of the SAF armed?
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Originally posted by Arapahoe:
are any of the SAF armed?
from the news and the papers...no...none of them was armed...
it looked more like a stroll for them...a leisure stroll with SBO and cap...that's all...
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Yah lor, from the news clip and pics in the paper, the GDSmen just have their LBV on and a big ass maglight, no weapons. Only the MPs have sidearm. Cummon...you're searching for a guy, you call for GDSmen...why not call the recce people in? They are trained to track people down what.
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Originally posted by Mospeada:
from the news and the papers...no...none of them was armed...
it looked more like a stroll for them...a leisure stroll with SBO and cap...that's all...
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How the fark he escaped?! tsk...
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Oh i saw today's ST, got a pic of a Guardsman with a bayonet.
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This morning when I was have breakfast at the coffeeshop there are many uncles discuss about the news.
Some of them believe that Mas Selamat this Jemaah Islamiyah leader have somebody's help in the detention camp to escape out.
He added that it is almost in possible that the JI Leader could not have easily escape the detention camp as detention camps have High fence walls and armed prison officers at tower ready to shot down any escape prisoners when the alarm is on.
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Originally posted by KLID:
This morning when I was have breakfast at the coffeeshop there are many uncles discuss about the news.
Some of them believe that Mas Selamat this Jemaah Islamiyah leader have somebody's help in the detention camp to escape out.
He added that it is almost in possible that the JI Leader could not have easily escape the detention camp as detention camps have High fence walls and armed prison officers at tower ready to shot down any escape prisoners when the alarm is on.
they sure the detention camp got high walls and armed prison officers?
you sure they are ready to shoot anyone? remember that in their mind, they know that if they fire one bullet, its a ton of paperwork to write.
are you even sure that they even know how to operate their rifles and pistols or not?
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Originally posted by dumbdumb!:
they sure the detention camp got high walls and armed prison officers?
you sure they are ready to shoot anyone? remember that in their mind, they know that if they fire one bullet, its a ton of paperwork to write.
are you even sure that they even know how to operate their rifles and pistols or not?
in a prison setting in movies always got high walls and armed prison officers that will shoot any convicts tried escaping one mah...
and everyone will need to squat with their hands on their hands, when the warrents are walking around
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Poor friends from saf mp command were activated at ard 12mn .. got 1 guy was in amidst of a midnight show .. really poor thing ..
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Originally posted by Mospeada:
in a prison setting in movies always got high walls and armed prison officers that will shoot any convicts tried escaping one mah...
and everyone will need to squat with their hands on their hands, when the warrents are walking around
movie leh.
in movies,
- the guards are big and burly, with expressionless faces like the Terminator, buldging muscles and 12 packs abs, super alert, armed and not afraid to shoot. They don't even need to sleep or go to the toilet!
- they've got high powered search lights which will put the kallang spotlights to shame.
- big ferel guard dogs the size of tigers, probably infected with rabies.
- high tech biometric systems.
in singapore,
- the guards are either fat lazy old men forced out of their retirement, or little kids serving the nation as conscripts.
- they probably don't remember how to fire a gun, lest shoot someone, hell, for all you know, they are only given a baton for self defence.
- they don't have search lights, only torchlights and candles.
- they have cute overfed poodles and malteses prowling the centre
- and no money for biometric system, because the fund goes into building the ERP, so they use the old fashioned notebook and pen, which can be easily forged.
- the guards are big and burly, with expressionless faces like the Terminator, buldging muscles and 12 packs abs, super alert, armed and not afraid to shoot. They don't even need to sleep or go to the toilet!
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Originally posted by KLID:
This morning when I was have breakfast at the coffeeshop there are many uncles discuss about the news.
Some of them believe that Mas Selamat this Jemaah Islamiyah leader have somebody's help in the detention camp to escape out.
He added that it is almost in possible that the JI Leader could not have easily escape the detention camp as detention camps have High fence walls and armed prison officers at tower ready to shot down any escape prisoners when the alarm is on.
someone who've been there on official business told me that you even have someone to accompany you when you ask to go to take a pee there .....
they'll follow you into the toilet itself ......
that's why I don't buy that story that the chap slipped away while he asked to go to the toilet ......
he must have had inside help ......
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Originally posted by Fatum:
someone who've been there on official business told me that you even have someone to accompany you when you ask to go to take a pee there .....
they'll follow you into the toilet itself ......
that's why I don't buy that story that the chap slipped away while he asked to go to the toilet ......
he must have had inside help ......
maybe he has used the metal spoon to dig a tunnel under the toilet bowl liao leh...
wahhaha
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i am curious how many people actually are searching vs how many people are cornering the area?
and how many people are planning?
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I don't get it...in P.Tekong couple years back, 3 chaps armed, u get 700 cops and SAF troops to hunt them down, aft 3 days, all guai guai surrender
Fast forward to 2008, 1 chap...friggin limping,armed with militant training (i wonder he pikachu condition, those JI/Al-Qaeda jokers give him what PES Status...shud get PES C and excuse firearms and all that mah rite?) escape on mainland, you get thousands of SAF and SPF to look for him. Given that he is trained and all...but wouldn't this have all happened...if that joker who was looking after him,had handcuffed him to a fixed object, and his ankles were secured by chains to a iron ball!