The tugboat has been held by Tawau Marine Police for the investigation.
Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun
The ship’s captain (in blue) is brought to the Tawau police station for questioning.
KOTA KINABALU: Police are trying to ascertain whether the abduction of four Sarawakian ship crewmen near Ligitan Island in Semporna last night occurred in Sabah or international waters.
Sabah police commissioner Datuk Abd Rashid Harun confirmed today that the four were taken from a Malaysian-registered tugboat.
He said Wong Hung Sing, Wong Teck Chii, Wong Teck Kang and Johnny Lau Jung Hien were among nine people on board the tugboat, which was heading to Tawau.
“From the initial report received, at 6.15pm on Friday, a boat with about eight armed men boarded a tugboat in the waters near Ligitan Island off Semporna. The armed men abducted four Malaysian men and left the five other crewmen – three Myanmar nationals and two Indonesians – unharmed.
“The captain of the tugboat then headed to the nearest police station to lodge a report on the abduction,” he said.
Abdul Rashid said the investigators from the police and Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) are now interviewing the captain of the tugboat to get the actual location of where the abduction occurred.
“We cannot jump to conclusion and say that it occurred in our waters. It could have happened in international waters but since the tugboat was on its way to Tawau, the captain lodged the report at the nearest police station,” he said.
“The abduction was said to have happened in Ligitan area, but that is a vast place and we have out assets in place there. I am now waiting for the investigation report on whether the abduction happened in Sabah or international waters. We have to see the tugboat’s log and if there is a GPS (global positioning system), we will be able to determine where it happened.”
Abd Rashid also pointed out that Esscom with the assistance of all security forces has tightened security along Sabah’s borders and they have thwarted a few attempts by would-be abductors to sneak into Sabah.
According to him, the tight security has led to the group(s) involved in abduction cases to pick “easy” targets such as an Indonesian tugboat on March 26.
“They are changing their trend to abducting easy targets near the borders,” he said.
He added that no ransom demand has been made so far.