Aerial search for escapees still on

Reports by N. TRISHA and IMRAN HILMY

GEORGE TOWN: The man behind the breakout at the Sri Impian camp and immigration depot in Bandar Baharu, Kedah, was an inmate who had been there the longest.

The man, along with more than 100 other Rohingya refugees, is still at large and the search for the escapees is continuing, with an aerial search to be done as well.

Penang police chief Comm Datuk Mohd Shuhaily Mohd Zain said the police air unit will help out while the ground search is also being stepped up.

He said they are now looking for 111 detainees, including children, as at 2pm yesterday.

“We are unsure how many more the Kedah and Perak police, or Immigration Department, have managed to round up but as at 2pm, these are the statistics we have .

“We believe they are still in Penang and in and around the south Seberang Prai area. Most are barefooted, tired and hungry and do not know where to go,” he told a press conference at the state police headquarters in Penang Road here yesterday.

Comm Mohd Shuhaily said the police are searching in the Kerian district and the Nibong Tebal town area.

Should the detainees venture further, Perak police will take over the matter, he added.

“On the Penang side, we located 28 men on Wednesday and another two at 10am today (yesterday).

“They were not aggressive when approached. We welcome updates from the public but if you chance upon the detainees, please do not take action on your own,” he said.

Comm Mohd Shuhaily said the six who were killed while crossing the North-South Expressway had been identified as two men aged 20 and 36, two teenage girls aged 14 and 18 and two children – a girl aged eight and a boy aged nine.

“We are still not sure if any of them are related.

“There were two others who were lightly injured and are receiving treatment,” he said.

On the driver of the car that killed the six detainees, Comm Mohd Shuhaily said the man in his 50s had given his statement and the case is being investigated.

“As you are fully aware, that is not a place to cross the road.”

The six had died while crossing at KM168 of the North-South Expressway, in Jawi, at 6.50am.

“Locals saw the group attempting to cross the highway and advised them against it but they did not listen.

“It was early in the morning and there were no witnesses to say that the driver was speeding.

“He was sober and shocked by the incident,” he said.

At dawn on Wednesday, 528 of the 664 detainees housed at the temporary depot escaped after a riot at the camp.

Most of the Rohingya there had been detained in Langkawi before being brought there.

Meanwhile, Kedah police have identified a man suspected of being the chief instigator of the breakout at the depot.

Kedah CID chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk G. Suresh Kumar said the undocumented migrant, in his 30s, was one of the longest serving detainees at the Sri Impian camp.

“We believe he influenced and instigated the others to riot and escape.

“Efforts are under way to locate the suspect,” he told a press conference at the Bandar Baharu district police headquarters.

SAC Suresh Kumar said the police are still investigating the cause of the riot, adding that interrogation of those rearrested revealed that they just wanted to be free and were not satisfied with the management of the depot.

He said they had taken statements from some 200 detainees who had been rearrested, and 20 immigration personnel and People’s Volunteer Corps (Rela) members.

Bandar Baharu OCPD Deputy Supt Mohd Akmal Hizam Abd Khupur said 14 police special teams and 350 General Operations Force personnel have been deployed to locate the detainees still at large.

“Our main focus now is around Bandar Baharu, Relau and Lubuk Buntar township, all within a 2km radius,” he said, adding that the district remains safe despite the incident.