Mas Selamat...relatives, family members jailed! I was spot on again in my analysis!

Mas Selamat's relatives aided escape

Posted: 22 November 2010 1510 hrs
Channelnews asia

[Photo: CNA news online ]

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Manhunt Underway


SINGAPORE:

Mas Selamat's brother, the brother's wife and their daughter, have been jailed between three and 18 months for harbouring the terrorist after his escape from the Whitley Road Detention Centre in 2008.His niece, Nur Aini. was sentenced to 18 months in jail.His brother, Asmom was given 12 months while his sister-in-law Aisah, three months' jail.

The three were arrested and charged last Wednesday, on November 10.They were convicted of the charge and sentenced on November 18.Mas Selamat's nephew, Mahadir, who had a lesser role in the matter, has been served a stern warning in lieu of prosecution.These details were revealed in a Ministerial statement in Parliament by Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam.

He said Mas Selamat made his way to his brother's home in Tampines on February 29, 2008, two days after he escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre (WRDC).He wanted to seek shelter and help from his niece, Nur Aini.Mr Shanmugam said Mas Selamat thought that Nur Aini was living alone.The Minister added that Nur Aini persuaded her mother to allow Mas Selamat to enter the flat.She gave him use of her bedroom, provided him food and water, and also assisted him by destroying the clothing he wore to the flat, which included his WRDC-issued attire.

Nur Aini helped Mas Selamat disguise himself as a woman to evade detection and recapture.She also gave him several items, including a map of Singapore that showed part of Malaysia.Asmom gave him S$100 and RM100 to facilitate his escape from Singapore to Malaysia.Asmom's wife Aisah gave Mas Selamat an EZ-link card and hair-net which he wore as part of his disguise, and some paracetamol.

Mr Shanmugam said the three had knowingly harboured Mas Selamat, an escaped prisoner of the State, who they knew was the subject of a massive manhunt.They deliberately withheld information when they were interviewed by the authorities on March 3, 2008.It was only in October this year, after being confronted with the facts, that they admitted to what had happened.Mr Shanmugam said Asmom and his family's decision to harbour Mas Selamat and provide him with material support that enabled him to escape to Malaysia was very wrong, illegal, and had grave security implications.Mr Shanmugam said Singaporeans will be understandably disappointed that Asmom and his family had helped Mas Selamat in his escape.But he added that their actions are not a reflection on the wider Malay-Muslim community who had disapproved of Mas Selamat's deeds, and participated in the manhunt for him in 2008.

Mr Shanmugam said Singaporeans should not allow this episode to affect the trust and goodwill that has been built up over the years between the different communities.Instead, he said this should reinforce how important it is for every Singaporean to unite and assist the security agencies to overcome the threat of terrorism.As to how Mas Selamat made his way to his brother's flat and how he subsequently made his way to Malaysia, Mr Shanmugam said the account given by Mas Selamat is still subject to verification.

-CNA/wk

Unk Dicko's Comments:

I have been proven absolutely correct again. Readers should check out all my earlier blog postings from the time of Mas Selamat's escape, the big manhunt for him and his subsequent recapture.

My analysis of the situation, including the FACT THAT HE WAS STILL BEING HARBOURED IN SINGAPORE, was made in the days and week following his escape.

If only the police and the ISD could have obtained the proper search warrants and if only they could have been a little smarter than his relatives and family members...they would have solved this much earlier and avoided much public embarassment.

After Mas Selamat was brought back he recounted how he escaped by crawling all the way through those linked drains and culverts to Woodlands. He then embellished it by saying he swam across...ALONE. This is to say he "had no help from anyone inside S'pore ".

I asked our authorities not to fall for this " bullshit and hogwash" of a story.

He had outside help. PERIOD!

I rest my case.

Unk Dicko was spot on about Mas Selamat !

When Mas Selamat escaped from the WDC in February last year, almost everyone pointed out his likely escape routes. ...either in the direction of MacRitchie Forest or Bukit Batok forest and elsewhere. Many netizens blog about his possible escape routes too including seeing him so-called limping away along Thomson Road. Haha !

But when I shared my calculated reasoning based on what I know and have researched on the criminal mind ( include the terrorist mind ) and then posted how I thought he had escaped detection....by using the drains at the Bt Timah canal and even hoped that the authorities would have read my blogpost, I was actually not fooling. I was serious about my postulating! The trouble was who would listen to an old Owl even if he is wise. Right?

We could have save ourselves much embarassment, wasted resources, manpower and precious time if only the powers that be have asked for feedback from the public...of which I'm one.



Read my original post of 2008 by clicking HERE. You won't believe what I wrote...it was bull's eye!



unk Dicko

Mon, May 25, 2009The New Paper

His four-day hideout


By now, it is well-known that Mas Selamat Kastari swam across to his short-lived freedom in Johor.
But how did the terrorist leader make his way from the Whitley Road Detention Centre to the coastline near Woodlands when there was a massive hunt for him?
A Malaysian source has now revealed that Mas Selamat, 48, managed to elude his hunters by hiding and crawling inside drains over three nights before he reached the coastline.
The unnamed source told Malaysian newspaper Berita Harian that the terrorist, who was recaptured on 1 Apr, relied on the drains as his main escape route.
The Singapore leader of terrorist group Jemaah Islamiah had been planning his escape for about a year before he executed his plan on Feb 27 last year.
He broke out of the Whitley Road Detention Centre by climbing out of a toilet window.
Another report in Harian Metro quoted the source as saying that each time Mas Selamat went to the toilet, he would gauge how long his wardens left him there.
Said the source: 'Mas Selamat would test how long his warden would leave him in the toilet. The longer he was left there, the brighter his chances of escape.'
All this went into his final calculations on the best time to flee.
The source told Berita Harian: 'He decided to rely on using the drains as soon as he realised that authorities had intensified security checks over the whole island.
'He crawled through the drains till he reached the coast near Woodlands on the fourth day after his escape from the detention centre.'
It was from there that he swam to Malaysia crossing the Tebrau Straits to Stulang near Johor Baru.
The Malay-language daily said he relied on the cloak of darkness to make his escape. It was not mentioned where he hid during theday.
When asked how the fugitive managed to swim across, the source said he used an improvised float fixed on his arms, like how a child's arm-floats would function.
Making his escape easier was the relatively weak currents in the straits and the short distance between the two countries.
The source was also quoted as saying that Mas Selamat had worn several layers of different sets of clothes to throw off his hunters.
Harian Metro said this tactic was discovered when he went to his brother's house for a brief refuge before going on the run again. It did not give details of the brother or the house.
Said the source: 'To continue his run, he successfully evaded authorities by using women's clothes in order to slip through the security checks.'
On Mas Selamat's recapture on 1 Apr, the source said the police found him hiding in a cupboard when they raided a house in Skudai where he had been taking refuge.
Ready for capture
Said the source: 'Police believe that he was ready to be captured because he no longer wanted to live a life on the run.'
Earlier reports quoted a source as telling Bernama that he only managed to make contact with two friends who are ordinary JI members. They were captured together with Mas Selamat.
Singapore's Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng had earlier said that Mas Selamat had used an 'improvised flotation device' to swim across the Johor Strait from the north shore of Singapore.
He said that intelligence provided by ISD late last year helped the Malaysian authorities to make the arrest.
Mas Selamat's latest arrest is his third since 2003, and each time information provided by ISD proved crucial, noted Mr Wong.
Recaptured, thanks to close ties
THE recapture of Mas Selamat Kastari in Johor was the latest and very significant example of the long-standing cooperation between Singapore and Malaysia.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said this in a speech at an official dinner last night in honour of Mr Najib Tun Razak's first state visit here since becoming Malaysian PM last month.
Mr Lee thanked his counterpart for Malaysia's role in recapturing the Republic's most wanted terrorist.
'On security matters, and especially on terrorism issues, our security agencies have a long tradition of close collaboration,' he said.
Earlier in a joint press conference, MrNajib said Malaysia would make Mas Selamat 'accessible' to Singapore.
When asked when the terrorist would be handed over to Singapore, he said it would be subject to further discussions.
He added he had shared with Mr Lee 'in confidence' some details learned from Mas Selamat.
This article was first published in The New Paper.
Read also:» My one-hour hideout

The Mas Selamat Great Escape...How did he elude capture?

1st Question - How did he escape from such a "secure"

detention centre under the noses of his guards ?

Answer:

The authorities have yet to release any details so far. Only DPM Wong K S has said his escape took place in the space of only a few minutes. Incredible! This chap M S must rank with the Best of those who made real, fantastic escapes from prison camps. Many such great escapes are now stuff of legends...written into books and epitomised in movies.

Since none of us on the outside are any wiser...let's be patient and leave the explanation to some red-faced fella to tell us.

2nd Question - How has he eluded Capture so far? Thousands of policeman, elite forces, tracker dogs, and other auxilliary forces have thrown cordons around the immediate vicinity of escape and Bt Batok nature reserve to name a few places. They have conducted searches everywhere. EVERYWHERE???

No....sorry, not everywhere. They were searching only in places they thought he might be hiding out.

This is where M S outwitted them.....so far.

MS is an incorrigible, trained terrorist who spent much time [ 2 terms ] in Afghanistan. He received training from the Taliban and the Al Qaeda cells operating openly over there. You can be sure that the training included how to escape from prison centres and after that, how to elude capture.

Those of you familiar with the true story of "The Great Escape"movie starring Steve McQueen, James Coburn and other top stars will recall that it took place in a German POW camp. They were in enemy territory without the advantage of knowing the local language, geography, culture, no helpful local network etc... to aid their escape. Thus it wasn't surprising that most were recaptured and executed. Still, a handful made it and much can be learnt from these and other successes....both ways, how to escape and elude capture and how to prevent the same from happening.

MS had been incarcerated for a few years in Indonesia and then here in S'pore.

He has had too much time on his hands to plan his escape...possibly with the help of the existing J I network here or some "fringe" players and likely with secret communications filtered through his family meetings at the centre or worse, some other means.

So....how could he remain undetected in the face of such massive searches ?

To answer that....we need to go into his mind, to "think like he would and act as he could have".

The SOP of our forces in such an eventuality is no guessing game to him.

The JI members, many from our own S'pore, know everything there is to know about SAF and Police procedures, even Immigration procedures etc... How they would likely respond.

If he knew all that, with his cunning, he would have in place a pre-arranged post- escape RENDEZVOUS pick up point/place....which was already relayed to his network through...[?], way before the actual escape took place.

All it required was for him to remain in hiding, in a secluded place where tracker dogs cannot find his smell or trail.....until the predetermined time..., quietly emerge under cover of darkness at the pre-agreed location, be immediately whisked away preferably in a closed van....and to a temporary safe haven within S'pore still. If his operatives missed him on the 1st attempt..due perhaps to the presence of police, they would have arranged for a 2nd attempt, perhaps the next night and so on. All it takes is a few minutes or even seconds for that to happen...the whisking away! And he's gone...disappeared into thin air !

The only place near Whitley Detention Centre where tracker dogs may lose the scent of an escapee is.........THE BUKIT TIMAH CANAL !!!

IT IS THE DRY SEASON NOW AND WATER LEVEL IS LOW IN THE CANAL MAKING IT EASY TO WADE ACROSS OR WALK ALONG THE BANK IN EITHER DIRECTION. There are

adjoining "tributary" sunken drains large enough to hide anyone for sometime in their deep recesses within.

From the hidden spot, one can easily move out for a late night pick -up as the main road is beside the canal ! Too convenient ! Both Bt Timah and Dunearn Road have very convenient pick -up points for vehicles.

A week has passed by and I have not seen any searches in the canals yet. It already may be too late....or is it???

Wise Owl