Depot riot: Escapees could give up soon due to exhaustion, hunger, say police

BANDAR BAHARU: Police believe the Rohingya detainees who escaped from the Sungai Bakap Immigration depot early on Wednesday (April 20) could give themselves up soon due to exhaustion and hunger.

Kedah Criminal Investigation Department chief Senior Asst Comm Datuk G. Suresh Kumar said the detainees had fled the depot without any food supplies or spare clothes and this has put them at a disadvantage.

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"They can’t last for long... what more during the fasting month now. There is a very big possibility they will give themselves up,” he told reporters after a visit to the Immigration depot here on Thursday (April 21).

He also said that while 528 Rohingya detainees had broken out that morning, another 100 of them decided not to follow suit and stayed put in the depot.

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In the 4.30am incident on Wednesday, 528 Rohingya detainees escaped from the depot following a riot.

Six of them died after being hit by vehicles on the North-South Expressway while 130 detainees, comprising 99 men, 21 women, five boys and five girls are still on the run.- Bernama