CP confirms trio kidnapped
Published on: Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Kota Kinabalu: Sabah Police Commissioner Dato' Omar Mammah (pic) has confirmed that the three fishermen who went missing from their boat off Kalabakan last week were kidnapped and taken to southern Philippines.Omar said the foreign fishing boat skipper had called his wife in Sandakan to deliver the bad news."The boat skipper called his wife on the phone and said he had been kidnapped and take to a location in the Philippines which he could not reveal," Omar told Daily Express on Tuesday.
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"There was no mention of ransom and that's all the boat skipper said to his wife, who had lodged a police report on the matter in Sandakan."The kidnappers may call later to make the ransom demand. I can't say where the foreign kidnapped fishermen are from but they"re from a neighbouring nation."Kidnapped were three fishermen – the skipper, a Malaysian boat crew and another who is the captain's fellow countryman. The skipper called his wife using an international number."On Dec 6, three fishermen, identified as Heri Ardiansyah, 19, Jari Abdullah, and Hariadin, 45, were reported missing after their boat was found abandoned.
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The boat was found with its engine still running at the Pegasus Reef waters off Kinabatangan after an attempted robbery or kidnapping by masked gunmen on a tugboat in the same area. The tugboat had fired at the gunmen with his flare gun, causing them to flee on their four-engine black speedboat.
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Omar said the police are making a study on a potential plan to recommend that boats carry flare guns, which are normally used to signal distress or get attention."Flare guns can double up as protection against pirates. They can be used to repel pirates like what happened on the tugboat," said Omar.When asked if the police would recommend that boats carry firearms, Omar said he would comment on the matter later.Two other Indonesian fishermen were abducted from their trawler in the waters off Semporna in a prior kidnapping case on Sept. 11. Both their families and employer subsequently received a ransom demand for RM4 million.On Thursday last week, Philippine marines rescued one of them after he escaped on the southern Philippine island of Jolo where Abu Sayyaf militants had held him captive, a statement from the Philippine military, which Daily Express obtained, said.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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