Red enters, out of the blue

Injured AIA watchman Sukdev Singh being helped away by two men from the Red Cross and St. John’s Ambulance on Aug 4, 1975. He was shot under the right eye by the Japanese Red Army radicals when he went to investigate. Photo: TAN HONG TATT/The Star (Reshoot)

The terrifying threat of hostage crises is something we live with in this age. But four decades ago, an incident unfolded unexpectedly on our shores.

When Tan Sri Zaman Khan’s police colleagues at the Special Action Unit told him on Aug 4, 1975 that the Japanese Red Army had seized hostages at the AIA building on Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur, he refused to believe them.