Amid reports of Abu Sayyaf beheadings, Mabul kidnappers demand ‘10 MILLION’ for Sabah cop

THOSE holding Constable Zakiah Aleip captive have contacted the police for his ransom.

The brief call ended with one of his captors saying, “I demand 10 million”.

However, they did not say if that was what it will take for them to set him free.

The call came at 10.50pm on Sunday, a day after the 26-year-old marine policeman was abducted by six heavily-armed gunmen who came from the southern Philippines, just after 11pm.

The terrorists came in two speedboats fitted with additional outboard engines.

The gunmen, (two more were believed to be manning the speedboats) had first killed Zakiah’s colleague, Corporal Abd Rajah Jamuan, 32.

Rajah, who died from gunshot wounds to the chest, was found in the water close to the dining hall of the Mabul Water Bungalows Resort on Pulau Mabul here.

The two policemen were part of a four-man patrol who were on a break.

The ransom call, which sources told the New Straits Times “was brief”, was made to the Semporna marine police headquarters’ operations centre.

Zakiah was first put on the line.

This was when he told the police officer who had picked up the call, an inspector, that his kidnappers had asked for no less than 10 million.

Zakiah, however, did not specify which currency his captors had asked for.

Before he could continue, someone took over the phone and told the inspector in English that his group expected to be paid the ransom.

The call was then cut off.

The man on the other end of the line did not give any instructions or set any conditions.

The NST was made to understand that Zakiah was well and was not under duress.

“There have been several calls from Zakiah, including from his own phone to his wife, as well as the Marine police operations centre.

“There was also a call made on Monday at 10pm from a foreign-registered number.

“We believe this was also his captors telling us that Zakiah had not been harmed, so that they will get what they want,” a source close to the on going investigations said.

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Malaysia's IGP has promised Zakiah's return before the Hari Raya celebrations at month-end

Meanwhile, another set of sources told the NST that authorities believe that the gunmen had come from Setangkai (Tumindao Reef) in the Philippines, and had taken the route near Mataking (the island closest to the Malaysia-Philippine border).

It is exactly 3.8 nautical miles from the Malaysia-Philippines maritime border to Mataking.

Authorities said the escape route believed to have been taken by the gunmen, gave Malaysian pursuers little time to an intercept the gunmen.

This was because the gunmen had gone south from Pulau Mabul, past Pulau Sipadan and into international waters to retreat to the Philippines.

The dash they had to make was just about 10 nautical miles.

If the gunmen had taken the same route they had come in, they would likely have been intercepted by Malaysian enforcement vessels, including those dispatched from Mataking, that was at several cut-off points along the border.

There are a set of teams pre-positioned on every island within the Sabah’s east coast waters, ready to be mobilised at a moment’s notice.

'Cavalry' came too late

The late Kpl Rajah (left) and Zakiah (right)

On the night of the deadly ambush, an all-points-bulletin was issued via GIRN (the government integrated radio network where all agencies serving under the Eastern Sabah Security Command were linked with) even as the event was unfolding.

The assets were then immediately deployed.

The NST was told by intelligence sources that the two security guards employed at the resort who had spotted the gunmen making their way to the dining hall from the nearby helipad had managed to dash to Sergeant Jeffery Din who was manning the patrol boat. Jeffery then rushed to the dining hall to provide assistance to Zakiah and Rajah but it was too late.

Both men had already been overpowered by their captors. The gunmen trained their weapons on Jeffery, warning him to back off or they will shoot.

Realising he was outnumbered and outgunned, Jeffery retreated and called for backup using the GIRN alert.

Intelligence sources believe the gunmen had set out to capture policemen on duty and had been observing their roster.

“They came straight for them.

“There was a Chinese tourist from the United Kingdom whom they had by the arm, but they let him get away.

“But they killed Rajah,” the source said.

The NST also learnt that Rajah is expected to be given posthumous promotion to sergeant. - NST