KOTA KINABALU, July 14 (Bernama) — A marine policeman who was abducted by a group of armed men while his colleague was shot dead at a resort in Pulau Mabul on Saturday night, is believed to be alive and held at an unknown location.
Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said Police Constable Zakia Aliep, 26, had contacted his wife, Sharifah Erna Berson on Sunday night to inform her that he was safe but in the custody of his captors.
“He contacted his wife yesterday to say he was OK and that he was with several people.
“Nevertheless, he did not state his location. We are waiting for further calls from the kidnappers to ascertain Zakia’s location.
“Essentially, the police know the identities of several individuals involved in the ambush on Saturday night,” he told reporters in Kota Kinabalu, Monday.
According to Khalid, the police have not yet received any request for ransom from Zakia’s captors.
Meanwhile, the police were in the midst of studying the Mabul Water Bungalows Resort’s closed-circuit television camera recordings and would investigate further.
“We are sure there was involvement from individuals nearby, who had contacted the enemy to enable them to act that way,” he said, urging the public not to speculate on the incident.
“Recently, we noted that criminals wanted to carry out another kidnapping, but could not do so because of the presence of security forces in the area,” said Khalid.
The IGP did not dismiss the possibility that the criminals would kill and shoot at security forces “out of revenge” for failed kidnapping attempts.
The ambush by a group of eight men at 11.10pm last Saturday led to the death of Zakia’s colleague, Corporal Abul Rajah Jamuan, 32.
–BERNAMA
