Sabah arrests Indon soldiers, cops in pursuit of killer

KOTA KINABALU - Indonesian security forces, in a bid to capture a runaway murder suspect, were themselves arrested for trespassing into Sabah territory on the shared Sebatik island.

Deputy Inspector-General of Police Datuk Seri Noor Rashid Ibrahim said that police from the Wallace Bay station on the island arrested the 17 Indonesians ― 10 from the republic’s police force, four from the army and three civilians ― for crossing the border illegally yesterday at about 1pm.

The Indonesian soldiers and police officers were dressed in plain clothes but were armed with revolvers and pistols.

“They had no malicious intent, they crossed the border to Sabah to identify and bring back a murder suspect, but they did not do it according to procedure,” said Noor Rashid when speaking to reporters this morning.

The suspect, wanted for the murder of a military man on Nunukan island, Indonesia on March 10, was arrested by Sabah police on March 12.

Sabah police, acting on public tip-off and information from their Indonesian counterparts, caught the suspect who was hiding in an oil palm plantation on Sebatik island yesterday.

“We understand why they came and that they meant no harm, but they came here through the wrong channels. First, they are not allowed to bring in weapons to our country and second, they need to follow immigration procedure. So based on that we need to open investigation papers into the incident.

“We will consider their intention and reason for coming, but we still have to follow our own laws and procedures, and take into account our good faith and cooperation in past cases when bringing the case to the deputy public prosecutors,” he said.

Based on investigations, the Indonesians entered Sabah illegally via various channels.

“The first group of about 10 of them arrived at the Wallace Bay police station at about 1am  on motorbikes, in plain clothes and carrying pistols.

“Later, seven more arrived by speedboat. All of them were held at the Wallace Bay police station lockup and eight pistols and four .38 revolves were seized,” said the source.

Sabah police deployed a platoon from nearby Tawau as precaution.

The 17 Indonesians have been transferred to the Tawau district police station and are being investigated under Section 63 of the Immigration Act for trespassing and also Section 8 of the Arms Act 1960 for bearing weapons.