ABDUCTED DUO IN FOREIGN WATERS

LAHAD DATU: The families of the two men who were kidnapped at a swiftlet house in an oil palm estate at Kg Manakayang, here, last Wednesday, have yet to receive any calls from the suspects or the victims.

"Attempts to contact the victims also proved to no avail which have led us to believe that they are outside Malaysian waters," State Criminal Investigation Department chief, SAC Omar Mammah, told a press conference, Saturday.

He said the father of one of the two men called one of the kidnappers the same day at 4.08pm but it was answered by an unknown voice.

"The voice then asked the victim's father, 'Sapa kau ni? (Who are you?)"

"Apa Kau Mau? (What you want?)" and immediately the call ended.

Meanwhile, one of the workers, Beni Sonia Raimundus, 31, who was present during the incident, said he and three other Chinese men were inspecting a swiftlet house in the plantation area when a group of five men, two of them wearing hats, came from the beach area.

He said he and two Chinese men were outside the swiflet house while another Chinese man was inside the house to inspect the bird nests.

Beni said the group introduced themselves as police and asked them to keep quiet and not to move.

"They said; 'Don't move, We are police' and they tied three of us outside the bird house. Five minutes later, the Chinese man who was inside the swiftlet house came out of the premises and was also tied up by the group.

"We were ordered to follow them to the police station and they told us to keep quiet if we want to stay alive. While walking towards the beach, I asked one of the kidnappers not to kill us but one of them told me to relax," said Beni, adding that the kidnappers asked for his race and religion.

Beni said he pretended that his sandals came off and tried to put it back on and that at this juncture the group decided to leave him behind together with one of the victims, identified as Ng Too Shiong, 60.

He said the group had guns, believed to be M16s, and that one of the kidnappers hit him on his thigh using the weapon.

"Ng and I were tied at the coastal area before the group sped off into the open sea in a blue-white boat with two outboard engines.

"They ordered us to leave only after they were out of sight," Beni said, adding that the kidnappers spoke in Malay with a Suluk accent.