KOTA KINABALU: Police have confirmed that the fishing boat skipper who was abducted by gunmen near Pulau Gaya in Semporna on Sept 26, has been released early yesterday morning.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun said the boat skipper, Ruslan Sarapin @ Hj Nasir, 39, arrived at Lahad Datu around 7am yesterday and was taken to Lahad Datu Police Station for his statement to be recorded.
“I am told that Ruslan is currently at the Lahad Datu Police Station but we’re still investigating how he was released. We are taking down his statement for investigation,” he said after receiving the Panglima Gemilang Darjah Kinabalu (PGDK) which carries the title ‘Datuk’ from Head of State Tun Datuk Seri Panglima Juhar Mahiruddin in conjunction with his 63rd birthday anniversary on Oct 1.
On Sept 26, a group of gunmen robbed two fishing boats and abducted a boat skipper within half an hour in waters off Semporna and Lahad Datu.
Ruslan was abducted by six armed men near Pulau Gaya in Semporna but they left 26 other fishermen, aged 18 to 60, unharmed. The kidnappers were also believed to be involved in robbing another fishing boat near Tungku in Lahad Datu about half an hour later.
The latest kidnapping incident happened just two weeks after three fishing boat crew members were kidnapped from nearby Pom Pom Island off Semporna on Sept 11. The owner of the fishing trawler claimed that gunmen, believed to be Filipinos, charged at their vessel at gunpoint and took with them three crew members, including the boat captain, before fleeing in a speedboat towards southern Philippines.
Two months prior to the incident, five Malaysian sailors were also believed to have been kidnapped after the tugboat they were sailing in was found abandoned in Dent Haven waters off Lahad Datu.
On April 15, four of the 10 Indonesian crewmen on board the TB Henry tugboat were abducted by armed men near Tawi-Tawi Island. Moments after the 6.30pm incident happened, the six crew members were rescued by Malaysian security forces when their boat entered Malaysian waters.
On April 2, four Sarawakians were grabbed from the MV Massive 6 tugboat off Pulau Ligitan by armed masked men as they were returning to Tawau after delivering timber cargo to Manila. The four men from Sibu were released after being held captive for 37 days by their Abu Sayaff captors.