‘Ops Daulat’ to be on show

Items like the intruders’ clothing, weapons, letters and books have been handed over to state police to be placed in the police museum.

KOTA KINABALU: A decade ago, over 200 intruders landing on the remote Tanduo coast in Sabah’s Lahad Datu district killed 10 of the country’s soldiers in a conflict as the security forces came to Malaysia’s defence.

Today, in memory of the fallen heroes and as a grim reminder to all Malaysians, seized items from that incident have been handed over to the state police to be placed in the police museum.

Expected to be launched in March at the state police headquarters in Kepayan near here, the museum will house over 400 seized items from the intrusion that turned into a military operation dubbed Ops Daulat.

A war memorial will also be built at the site of the conflict in Kampung Tanduo in February 2013, which also killed dozens of Filipino intruders and saw the evacuation of hundreds of villagers.

CID director Datuk Seri Abdul Jalil Hassan said 812 exhibits were returned to the police after the Federal Court granted permission on Jan 15, 2018.

These exhibits and seized items from Ops Daulat, he said, would be kept for historical value and to serve as a lesson and reminder for all citizens on the importance of keeping the nation safe.

Out of the 812 exhibits, 329 items, including clothes, specimens and communications tools, would be destroyed, while the rest, such as the intruders’ weapons, knives, letters, books and other things, would be handed over to the Sabah police museum, he said.

Currency reminder: The money amounting to 341,000 pesos will be handed over to the national treasury.

“Money amounting to 341,000 pesos (or about RM27,000) will be handed over to the national treasury,” said Abdul Jalil.

“Today, we have completed the handover. We hope this will serve as a reminder to future generations of the importance of security and peace for all Malaysians,” he said.

The handover from Abdul Jalil to Sabah deputy police commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun was witnessed by Bukit Aman Management Department director Datuk Seri Zaini Jass.

Jauteh thanked the Federal Court as well as the state and federal authorities for allowing the police to keep some of the seized items, including bullet shells and firearms.

Some of the items seized during the bloody Lahad Datu incursion in Sabah a decade ago, being disposed of.

The state government, he said, had set aside RM1mil to build the police museum and another RM150,000 for the construction of the war memorial.

Both projects are underway and expected to be completed by the 10th anniversary of the invasion in March this year, added Jauteh.

He also said it was vital for all Malaysians to work together to protect the nation’s sovereignty, pledging the force’s continuous commitment to keeping the country safe.