19 Cops Rescued; Six Others Die In Simunul

Updated, March 4th, 2013, 5:15am

Police say they shot dead six armed men; another beaten to death by villagers

Some of the rescued policemen!

By Alexander Chen, BorneoInsider

SEMPORNA: Police stormed a hide-out at Kampung Sri Jaya, Simunul late yesterday evening, killing five armed men and rescuing 19 policemen who were said to have been “trapped” since Saturday night.

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar at a brief 9.00pm Press conference in Lahad Datu on Sunday also declared that the bodies of the 6 dead policemen have been identified and taken to the Tawau general hospital, before being released to their respective families.

It is understood that police stormed a house at Sri Jaya at about 4.30pm and another shoot-out ensued, and this time five armed men were killed. Another had been shot dead in the first fire-fight on Saturday.

The overnight raid on Simunul, a notorious seaside squatter settlement close to the district’s Marine Police Headquarters, plunged the entire Sabah into a state of panic and shock.

All set and ready to leave Simunul for a temporary safer place.

But it ended 24 hours after it started, with the police suffering the loss of six of their colleagues who were apparently caught by surprise in an ambush at Lorong 6, at about 8.00pm Saturday.

But a bigger tragedy was averted. During the tense 24-hour intrigue, 19 policemen went missing; unaccounted for and this caused a major worry for their comrades.

The Borneo Insider was aware of this situation – we were given 23 missing initially – but chose not to reveal it, just in case it would muddy the actual situation. But four of the original missing 23 was later pronounced dead.

This was the scene at the Customs Jetty at noon Sunday. The occupants of this car were ordered down and a thorough search carried out by Marine police personnel who mounted the checkpoint.

We also knew that two policemen had died in the first ambush at about 8.00pm on Saturday.

Ismail declined to reveal the identity of the dead police personnel, added that mopping-up operations that involved checking through some 300 houses, ended at 7.00pm.

“It is over and the situation is getting back to normal,’’ Ismail said in extending his condolences to the families of the police personnel who died.

The “rescued” policemen have since been taken to the district police headquarters while the bodies were brought to the Semporna hospital.

Ismail said that they have yet to establish the identities of the six gunmen shot dead.

Police sources said a Tiger platoon strike force delicately walked the wooden planks conducting a house to house search due to fear that booby-traps and homemade bombs might await anyone entering the sprawling squatter settlement along Semporna coast.

Turn back you; Marine police direct a motorist to turn back and not to proceed dwon the road to a nearby hotel.

Prior to the “hit-and-rescue” mission, police ordered out hundreds of people living in the area, and this created a sort of panic among the people. Shops in town closed up immediately.

As at noon Sunday, Semporna resembled a ghost town. Some 1,500 people living at the four villages in Simunul had fled the village on police advice.

The Borneo Insider witnessed dozens of vehicles filled with people and heading away from Semporna. The two petrol stations just outside town were packed with panic-stricken people filling up their tanks before their departure.

The town itself was at a standstill and all shops closed. It was difficult to even find one coffeeshop in the town open for business.

But those with vehicles even moved out their electrical items.

Minister of Regional and Rural Development, Datuk Shafie Apdal had one function this morning cancelled as the people were afraid to come out.

There was especially tight security at the customs jetty with heavily armed marine police men on full alert. One machine gun was clearly in evidence.

All dive trips to the nearby diving islands have been cancelled.

Hassan Abdul Kadir, the headman and JKKK chief for the Simunul group of villages told Borneo Insiderthat the attackers were first spotted at Lorong Tiga at about 5PM. They then moved to Lorong Lima before policemen were alerted.

It is understood that police received a tip that some 15 – 18 heavily armed men had invaded the village and wee up to no good.

However, the clash between the police and the armed men only started after Isyak prayers at seven when several gunshots were heard. It was an exchange of fire between the police and the armed group.

When the shooting stopped, police had two dead and one injured. The second body, said to be that of a high ranking special branch officer was earlier left unclaimed for fear of it being booby-trapped.

This family walks out of Simunul under the watchful eyes of security personnel

Simunul consists of a group of mini villages named Seri Jaya, Batu, Sejati and Selamat. There are more than one thousand and five hundred people, made up of locals and immigrants.

A machined-gun outpost at a strategic location close to Simunul.

While the situation at Simunul had tensed up, security forces were sent chasing for a group of 10 men, three of who were armed and seen wearing military fatigues at two villages in the east-coast district of Kunak at about 10pm on Saturday.

The intruders were spotted at Kampung Lormalong and Kampung Dasar Lama and police had mounted a manhunt to track them down.

Meanwhile at Tanduo, the scene of the thee-week long stand-off between Malaysian security and the Sulu raiders, police arrested three men who were trying to slip through a security cordon around the village late Saturday.

Getting away with essential items, especially clothes.