TAPAH: Residents of Kampung Batu Melintang here provided food and drinks to two detainees who escaped from the Bidor temporary immigration depot on humanitarian grounds before they were surrendered to the police.
One resident who is a retired teacher, Razali Talib, said he offered the two detainees drinks out of pity when they were apprehended by the congregation of Masjid Jamek Ar Rahmaniah Batu Melintang.
“They didn’t ask for food, but some people felt sorry for them, so they donated two packets of mee goreng.
“But one of them – the Rohingya – didn’t want fried noodles. He wanted instant noodles instead.
“The Bangladeshi was probably hungry because he finished one and a half packets of mee goreng,” he told reporters yesterday, Bernama reported.
Razali, 69, who is also the mosque’s imam, said he saw them inside the mosque when he was about to perform the sunat prayer before dawn.
He then inquired about their origins.
“One of them claimed he is from Bangladesh, but I doubted it because his facial features resembled a Rohingya’s.
“As people were preparing for the dawn prayers (in congregation), we proceeded and they joined in. I left them undisturbed for a while,” he said.
Later, Razali requested his friend, a retired police officer, Mohd Isa Ariffin, 70, to contact the police and report the situation.
While waiting for the police to arrive, Razali instructed the mosque’s caretaker to observe both men while engaging them in a conversation.
“While one couldn’t converse in Malay, the other claimed he was from Myanmar and working in the area. I urged them not to lie since there was no Myanmar or Bangladesh citizen working here,” he said, adding that both men were casually dressed but without shoes.
Razali said when the police arrived, they confirmed that the individuals were among the detainees who had escaped.
Subsequently, they were taken to the Ipoh police headquarters.
In the Thursday night incident, a total of 131 illegal immigrants escaped from the male block of the detention centre.
Out of the total, 115 were Rohingya, 15 were Myanmar and one was a Bangladeshi.
