Cage fish breeding centre operator, worker kidnapped in Kunak

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KOTA KINABALU: Two armed men abducted a cage fish breeding centre operator and his worker in Kunak early yesterday, just over a month after a China national who managed a cage culture was kidnapped at Pulau Baik in Lahad Datu.

Chan Sai Chiun, 32, from Ipoh, Perak and the worker from Suluk, known only as Mazlan, in his 20s, were taken away about 12.40am in Kampung Air Sapang.

State CID chief, ACP Omar Mamah said in the incident, Chan and his wife, Chin Pek Nyuen, 42, were awakened after hearing voices outside their house before spotting two armed men outside.

He said after the wife had gone into the house, leaving Chan outside, she heard the sound of a boat leaving. Chan was not seen again.

“The boat, measuring 15 feet long and four feet wide was made of fibreglass,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

Omar said they were informed of the incident at 12.45am by a partner of the victim, believed to have started a business together in April, at the breeding centre, a distance of about 10km from Kunak town. At the time of the incident, two employees and Chan’s two-year-old nephew were staying with the couple.

“We believe they (the armed abductors) managed to escape to Pulau Sitangkai (Philippines), about 40 minutes away. We also believe there are other suspects involved.

“So far, there has been no demand for ransom. This is the third kidnapping in the east coast this year.”

On May 6, five gunmen kidnapped a China national cage culture manager, Yang Zai Lin, 34, a native of Guangzhou.

Subsequently, a female Chinese national, Gao Hua Yuan, 29, from Shanghai and a Filipino woman, Marcy Dayawan, 40, were kidnapped at a resort on the waters of Singamata Adventures Reef and Resort, Semporna in early April.

They were released and sent back to their country of origin on May 30. Meanwhile, the Kota Kinabalu Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry (KKCCCI) expressed utmost concern over yet another kidnapping in Sabah.

Its president, Michael Lui, deplored the recurrence of such incident, in spite of the recent efforts made by Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Musa Aman and the China Consul-General Liu Quan that the confidence on the security of Sabah would be soon restored to attract Chinese tourists whose diminishing arrival recently due to the kidnapping incidents of Chinese tourists in Semporna.

Lui reckoned even though this could be a separate case, the grand efforts of all concerned in restoring the confidence of foreign tourists would be seriously affected. — Agencies