Gunmen who seized Pinoy worker, fish breeder in Sabah believed in Mindanao – report

The gunmen who abducted a Filipino worker and a fish farm operator in Sabah on Monday are believed to have slipped into MIndanao, a Malaysian news site reported Tuesday.
 
Police suspect the gunmen passed Alice Reef in crossing over to Tawi-Tawi with their hostages, according to a report on Malaysia's The Star Online.
 
Sabah Criminal Investigation Division chief Senior Assistant Commissioner Omar Mammah was quoted in the report as saying the gunmen may be part of a kidnap-for-ransom group based in Tawi-Tawi.
 
"The whole raid lasted less than five minutes – and no shots were fired," he said.
 
Shortly after midnight Sunday, gunmen abducted Filipino worker "Maslan," 20, and fish breeder Chan Sai Chiun, 32, from their farm in Kunak.
 
According to Omar, their initial findings showed the abductors rowed into the fish farm jetty.
 
The gunmen were armed with high-powered firearms, possibly M-16 rifles, he said.
 
When Chan and his wife went out of their room after hearing noises, the gunmen confronted Chan and had him board their boat. Chan's wife escaped into a room.
 
But Omar said they were not sure how they picked up Maslan.
 
Following the abduction, security forces under the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) were mobilized and a manhunt launched for the abductors.
 
Pinoy worker's background
 
But Omar also said police are now checking on Maslan’s background to see if he was a legal worker.
 
He also said they are not discounting the chance the gunmen might have entered Sabah days earlier.
 
“These kidnap-for-ransom groups are looking for ‘commodities’ and it does not matter if they are tourists or fish farm operators,” he said.— Joel Locsin/RSJ, GMA News

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