Esscom denies shooting incident in Kunak

LAHAD DATU - Security in Sabah’s eastern Kunak district is under control and the public have been urged not to listen to any rumours of shootout and a state emergency imposed in the area.

Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director general Datuk Mohammad Mentek said that there was no truth in the rumour about the shootings and recovery of weapons that were widely circulated in social media.

He said the high security presence in Kunak was due to the launch of Ops Gasak to weed out illegal immigrants and suspected criminals within the water villagers of Kg Bakau, Kg Nelayan and Kg Basilan in Kunak in the east coast of Sabah.

"I can assure you that Kunak is safe and not under any threat and the chatters in the social media about cross border criminals in the area is not true,’’ he said.

He said the routine Ops Gasak operations coordinated by Esscom was led by operations director Deputy Comm Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun and they involved various security agencies including Immigration and National Registration Department.

Ops Gasak was launched in Kunak following the June 16 kidnapping of a fish farm operator Chain Sai Chuin, 32, and a Filipino worker Maslan, 20 at Kg Sapang about 60kms from Lahad Datu town.

"I hope people will remain calm and not listen or believe the rumours spread in the social media," he added.

Abdul Rashid said 129 people believed to be illegal immigrants were detained during the seven hour operations that begun at 3am Wednesday.

He said those detained, included 34 women, did not have any proper or valid identity or travel documents.

By Muguntan Vanar