KOTA KINABALU: Sabah police are trying to ascertain if a kidnap for ransom group or pirates were involved in the shooting of a fishing trawler in the waters off Sabah's Kinabatangan.

Sabah deputy police commissioner Datuk Razarudin Husain said, however, that police do not believe that the gunmen in black fatigues, who shot at the trawler on Thursday (Feb 22), were linked to militants.