Security forces on the alert in Lahad Datu, Sabah.
KOTA KINABALU: Security forces have launched a sweeping operation in Sabah’s east coast following reported sightings of a group of masked gunmen in Kinabatangan.
Plantation workers claimed they spotted the gunmen hiding in an oil palm estate two days ago.
Details of who the gunmen could be was sketchy but Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCOM) has mobilised personnel to the area.
The public, however, were urged not to be unduly worried over the sighting as security personnel were trying to verify the validity of the claim that the gunmen could be "intruders."
"We have received information about these men. We are still verifying whether its true or not.
"We have ESSCOM to assist on verifying this claim," said Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman.
He was asked about the claims by Kinabatangan folks of seeing gunmen at an estate about 50kms from town.
ESSCOM commander Deputy Comm Datuk Abd Rashid Harun said the deployment of security forces was part of operations being conducted in areas not covered by the General Operations Force or army.
"It is part of showing our force as well as getting familiar with the area. We carry out such operations from time to time," he said. He did not say if they were targeting any specific criminals in the area.
It could not be ascertained if the masked men purportedly seen in the area were linked to three incidents of murders and robberies in Kinabatangan and neighbouring Lahad Datu.
Police in the east coast have been on the hunt for seven foreigners in connection with a payroll grab in which a 50-year-old plantation manager Yuen Wing Wah was shot dead on April 13. Estate owner Danny Wong, 30, was injured in the incident.
The group was also believed to be responsible for the murder of a 50-year-old sundry shop owner who was shot in the chest by one of four 'hitchhikers' who asked him for a lift on April 17.
On May 1, oil palm estate owner, Tamsun Hamimun, 55, was killed and his driver seriously injured when they were attacked and robbed by masked men at his estate in Lahad Datu district.
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