KOTA KINABALU: The kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) groups who are holding two Malaysians on an island in the Philippines have made three telephone calls to their families demanding money.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman in confirming this said the telephone calls were made to the families of Thien Nyuk Fun and Bernard Then Ted Fen some time this week.
“Yes, ransom demands have been made by the kidnappers, but I cannot disclose the amount,” he said.
“The second phone call was made to one of the families demanding for money to buy diabetic medicine for one of their hostages,” he said yesterday.
It is learnt that one of the hostages, Nyuk Fun, 50, is a diabetic.
The third phone call, said Jalaluddin was made in demand for money to buy food for the hostages.
Jalaluddin added that the KFR groups have been moving from one location to another to prevent from being detected by security forces.
On May 14, Nyuk Fun and Bernard, 39, were taken hostage by four armed men at the Ocean King Restaurant in Sandakan in full view of about 100 customers.
Nyuk Fun is one of the co-owners of the restaurant while Bernard, from Sarawak is an electrical consultant in Cambodia.
The incident happened barely an hour into the 10-hour dusk to dawn curfew (from 7pm to 5am) implemented in 2014, which covers 10 districts within the Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESSCom).
The curfew is to restrict night activities and covers areas from about three nautical miles from shore until international borders with the Philippines.