Seven Masked Gunmen Fail At Latest Attempted Kidnapping In Semporna

An attempt by seven armed men to abduct a cage-fish farmer off Bangau-Bangau Island, Semporna, early yesterday failed because the entrepreneur was not at his farm.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said a worker of the farm alerted the marine police on the incident at 1am.

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“An armed group of seven men failed in its attempt to abduct a fish farm operator off Bangau-Bangau Island because he was not at his farm early this morning. “Six of them were masked and armed with long machetes while one was without a mask and carried a pistol. They had come in a blue speedboat with a 200hp engine,” he said in a statement.

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Five of them went up to the fish farm while two others waited in the speedboat, said Jalaluddin.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said a worker from the Ah Chai Fish Farm informed police that the gunmen appeared just after midnight in search of the owners, a Chinese couple from Kelantan.

The masked men, who arrived on a blue wooden speedboat, came ashore and pointed a pistol at one of the workers asking for the owners.

It was learnt that the owners of Ah Chai Fish Farm, a Kelantanese Chinese couple, were no longer residing on the island as they had moved to Semporna following the spate of kidnapping incidents in the area.

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Jalaluddin said the abductors only took televisions, Astro decoders, some equipment and appliances from the farm.

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“When they failed to locate the bosses, they fled with a few items, including a television set, Astro decoder and two small bags belonging to the couple.” Jalalaluddin said they fled without harming anyone.

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They spoke in Malay initially, but switched to the Suluk dialect when they found out that the worker was also a Suluk.

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A massive hunt is on for the armed men, six of them wearing masks, armed with long machetes. One was armed with a pistol. He said police had combed the area to find any leads to the group around the 1,200 square feet fish farm, which has been operating since 2005.

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Semporna district police chief Supt Mazlan Lazim said police were investigating the case and were conducting a search for the gunmen. "We are working with the marine police, army, and other agencies under the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) in this operation to hunt them," he said.

Security forces have instructed fish farm owners and managers in Semporna to move "temporarily" to the mainland following a failed kidnapping attempt near Kampung Bangau-Bangau on Monday.

"We have instructed all fish farm owners to move to the mainland as an initial approach to prevent the possibility (of further kidnap attempts)," Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman said.

All routes out of Semporna have also been cut off in an intensified a hunt for seven armed men, suspected to be Filipinos, who robbed a fish farm after they failed to find the owners in the 1am incident.