19 Cops Rescued; Six Others Die In Simunul

ARCHIVES 2013

By admin-s On Mar 4, 2013

Some of the rescued policemen!

(Borneo Insider) – Police say they shot dead six armed men; another beaten to death by villagers

Police stormed a hide-out at Kampung Sri Jaya, Simunul late yesterday evening, killing five armed men and rescuing 19 policemen who were said to have been “trapped” since Saturday night.

Inspector General of Police Tan Sri Ismail Omar at a brief 9.00pm Press conference in Lahad Datu on Sunday also declared that the bodies of the 6 dead policemen have been identified and taken to the Tawau general hospital, before being released to their respective families.

It is understood that police stormed a house at Sri Jaya at about 4.30pm and another shoot-out ensued, and this time five armed men were killed. Another had been shot dead in the first fire-fight on Saturday.

The overnight raid on Simunul, a notorious seaside squatter settlement close to the district’s Marine Police Headquarters, plunged the entire Sabah into a state of panic and shock.

All set and ready to leave Simunul for a temporary safer place.

But it ended 24 hours after it started, with the police suffering the loss of six of their colleagues who were apparently caught by surprise in an ambush at Lorong 6, at about 8.00pm Saturday.

But a bigger tragedy was averted. During the tense 24-hour intrigue, 19 policemen went missing; unaccounted for and this caused a major worry for their comrades.

The Borneo Insider was aware of this situation – we were given 23 missing initially – but chose not to reveal it, just in case it would muddy the actual situation. But four of the original missing 23 was later pronounced dead.

This was the scene at the Customs Jetty at noon Sunday. The occupants of this car were ordered down and a thorough search carried out by Marine police personnel who mounted the checkpoint.

We also knew that two policemen had died in the first ambush at about 8.00pm on Saturday.

Ismail declined to reveal the identity of the dead police personnel, added that mopping-up operations that involved checking through some 300 houses, ended at 7.00pm.

“It is over and the situation is getting back to normal,’’ Ismail said in extending his condolences to the families of the police personnel who died.

The “rescued” policemen have since been taken to the district police headquarters while the bodies were brought to the Semporna hospital.

Ismail said that they have yet to establish the identities of the six gunmen shot dead.