Biggest Man Hunt in Singapore ends with Capture of Escaped Terrorist

[OPSSG]

Mas Selamat captured

May 8, 2009 - Fugitive who escaped from Whitley detention centre last year is tracked down and captured in Johor after tip-off from Singapore; he is being held for interrogation by Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Thirteen months after his audacious escape from detention in Singapore, Mas Selamat Kastari has been caught in Malaysia.

Singapore's most wanted terrorist was captured on April 1 while hiding in Johor, regional intelligence sources told The Straits Times. It is believed that he was nabbed in the outskirts of Johor Baru and is now being held by the Malaysian authorities for interrogation. It is not known how he slipped out of Singapore or when he entered Malaysia.

Although he was arrested six weeks ago, the Malaysian authorities have not yet announced the capture. A senior Malaysian government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, confirmed the arrest and said that Mas Selamat was being held under the country's Internal Security Act. He declined to say when the terrorist would be handed over to the Singapore authorities. It is believed that the fugitive had stayed in Johor all this time and had not travelled further north. He is also believed to be detained in Johor.

Sources told The Straits Times that the 48-year-old was tracked down based on intelligence provided by Singapore's Internal Security Department (ISD), and a joint operation by Malaysia and Singapore's security agencies eventually led to his arrest. The capture of Mas Selamat brings to an end one of the largest manhunts ever undertaken by Singapore and its neighbours for a terrorist on the run.

Big sigh of relief for Singapore's intelligence agencies!!! Mas Selamat bin Kastari is an Indonesian born Singaporean. He is a Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) leader and he managed to escape from Singapore's Whitley Road Detention Centre last year. His family were visiting him at the time and he was being led to a room to meet them when he asked to go to the toilet. He then fled. A massive manhunt comprising personnel from the Singapore Police Force, the Gurkha Contingent, the Police Tactical Unit and the Police National Service Key Installation Protection Unit were deployed in the vicinity of the area immediately after the escape. They were later aided by members of the Singapore Guards and the Singapore Armed Forces Military Police Command, but he was not captured until 1 April 2009.

For those that are unfamiliar, the first batch of JI's terrorist operatives in Singapore were captured in 2001, for plotting to conduct terrorist attacks. Please see this US link for more background information on the JI.

According to the US based NEFA Foundation, JI has Singaporean members, which includes Mohammad Aslam bin Yar Ali Khan (Aslam), a Singaporean of Pakistani extraction. Aslam later arrested by the Northern Alliance in Afghanistan. On 3 Dec 2001, the media published a report on Aslam and his arrest in Afghanistan. As the story was likely to attract further media attention, ISD decided to bring forward its operation against Aslam’s associates before they went underground or left the country to escape arrest.

On 14 Dec 2001, five days after the first JI arrests, the US officers informed ISD when ISD briefed them about a videotape containing footages of the vicinity of Yishun Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station found in Afghanistan. ISD received a copy of the said videotape and debriefing notes on 28 Dec 2001. 13 of the 23 questioned were subsequently confirmed to be members or supporters of operations cells within the organisation. All 13 were involved in profiling and surveillance of targets for terrorist attacks and in procurement of logistics including transport, hiding places and materials for bomb construction. In particular, JI had conducted surveillance on Yishun MRT because US military personnel would usually shuttle between Yishun MRT station and their naval facilities in Sembawang. This videotape and some handwritten debriefing notes in Arabic were later found in the rubble of an Al-Qaeda leader Mohd Atef @ Abu Hafs’s house in Afghanistan.

The Singapore JI is part of a larger network with cells in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Singapore JI group reports to a Malaysian-based leadership structure called a regional syurah (consultative council). The Singapore group itself is led by a “Qoaid Wakalah” (leader) who is in turn advised a syurah which comprises of a few senior members. The group has five functional units: Operations, Security, Missionary Work, Economy (fund-raising) and Communications.

Singapore JI members were urged to visit Afghanistan to see the fruits of jihad. While there, they learned to handle the AK47, bazookas, mortars, grenades and explosives. At least 8 JI members have gone to Afghanistan for military training. Besides Afghanistan, some Singaporean JI members have attended training sessions in Mindanao in south Philippines conducted by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), a militant separatist group.

 

[OPSSG]

...On 14 Dec 2001, five days after the first JI arrests, the US officers informed ISD when ISD briefed them about a videotape containing footages of the vicinity of Yishun Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) station found in Afghanistan... In particular, JI had conducted surveillance on Yishun MRT because US military personnel would usually shuttle between Yishun MRT station and their naval facilities in Sembawang. This videotape and some handwritten debriefing notes in Arabic were later found in the rubble of an Al-Qaeda leader Mohd Atef @ Abu Hafs’s house in Afghanistan.

The Singapore JI is part of a larger network with cells in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Singapore JI group reports to a Malaysian-based leadership structure called a regional syurah (consultative council). ...

Barry Desker writes on 'The JI Phenomenon in Singapore' in detail and provides diagrams to explain the regional links. This article is an interesting read, providing some details and insights on the JI organisation.

If you are interested in more details on the JI ideology, please see this Nov 2006 IDSS Working Paper No. 117 on the PUPJI, the 44 page 'manifesto' of JI.

 

[Tavarisch]

Yeah, JI Man got caught. Front page of every single Malaysian Newspaper, at least the English ones. I don't really read the Malay ones, they tend to be very biased.

In any case, good for Singapore, you caught a toilet-break fugitive. nfloorl:

 

[OPSSG]

Yeah, JI Man got caught. Front page of every single Malaysian Newspaper, at least the English ones. I don't really read the Malay ones, they tend to be very biased.

In any case, good for Singapore, you caught a toilet-break fugitive. nfloorl:

I'm really glad Mas Selamat is caught and my many, many thanks to the Malaysian government for taking him out of circulation. This guy is a common threat to Indonesia / Malaysia / Singapore as JI is a regional organisation and was plotting another terrorist attack during his period of freedom.

Objectively, it is the Singapore government's incompetence that let Mas Selamat escape (from the toilet, of all places) and because of that, a lot of inconvenience has been created for the Malaysians/Singaporeans entering and exiting Singapore customs over the last year due to enhanced border control measures.

 

[Tavarisch]

Speaking of the month of May, happy Victory Day to all Russians and Eastern Europeans!

So, do the Americans have plans for him?

 

[Ananda]

Objectively, it is the Singapore government's incompetence that let Mas Selamat escape (from the toilet, of all places) and because of that, a lot of inconvenience has been created for the Malaysians/Singaporeans entering and exiting Singapore customs over the last year due to enhanced border control measures.

Opssg, for at least last year alone, I ve been to Singapore at least once every three months due to my Bank's projects. I know and many in here also known that the Singaporean Police and Security aparatus is notorius being able to watch but not to be seen.

Just wandering and many people also in here wandering (especially the ones who familiar with Singapore) how this guys can get out from his detention just by escaping the 'toilet' and wandering the street in Singapore like nobody will notice him.
I'mean he should wearing Prison uniforms right ? or anybody in Singapore already knows if he's escaping already planned and his accomplished already waiting for him the minutes he's escaping ?

How's the ussualy effective Singapore security can be breach with (sorry) relative ease by this guy ? Has all the accomplished being aprehand or identified ?

 

[riksavage]

That's why he was banged up in Malaysia by Special Branch for a month, both SP and the Sing ISD want to know how he got from one side of the island to the other, then cross a body of water without any money, food & water and no change of clothes before being captured in Johor a year later. He had to cross a densely populated urban area with the security infrastructure on full-alert? He must have had local help or managed to acquire 'a cloak of invisibility'!

Watch this space, a few Singaporean's may end up being detained for aiding and abetting his escape.

 

[OPSSG]

Opssg, for at least last year alone, I've been to Singapore at least once every three months due to my Bank's projects. I know and many in here also known that the Singaporean Police and Security apparatus is notorious being able to watch but not to be seen.

The people in the Singapore security apparatus (which includes both the better known ISD and the lesser known SID) are quite brave, rigorously selected and very well resourced - at data gathering and at analysis levels. SID or the Security and Intelligence Division is currently commanded by a 1 star general (equal in rank to a division commander) and Singapore's President, Mr. SR Nathan made a name for himself when he was head of SID during the Laju incident (see link for other details).

Just wandering and many people also in here wandering (especially the ones who familiar with Singapore) how this guys can get out from his detention just by escaping the 'toilet' and wandering the street in Singapore like nobody will notice him.
I mean he should wearing Prison uniforms right ? or anybody in Singapore already knows if he's escaping already planned and his accomplished already waiting for him the minutes he's escaping ?

Mas Selmat wore civilian clothes underneath his 'prison uniform' and there were certain specific physical lapses as reported by the Straits Times (basically a big 'cock-up'). Strangely, the physical lapses occurred because of the renovations to improve the detention centre.

How's the usually effective Singapore security can be breach with (sorry) relative ease by this guy ? Has all the accomplished being apprehend or identified ?

If you are interested, here's the Committee of Inquiry's report. I believe the problems identified have been rectified, as the Singapore Government knows that the electorate will not tolerate another 'cock-up' of this sort. Further, LKY is still around - so he would have asked Mr Wong Kan Seng if he walked around the actual detention facility to check every security measure implemented. LKY is famous for his management by walking around (ie. to check) after a meeting.

Some Singaporeans are also arguing that the minister in charge, Mr Wong Kan Seng should have resigned. Right now, the online discussion on this event is organized around three questions:

(i) What did Mas Selamat do to escape from Singapore*?
(ii) What could have been done by the SG government?
(iii) What should have been done by the SG government?

*How Mas Selamat was he able to swim to JB undetected given that our UAVs were flying and there were enhanced patrols? Why did the UAVs/patrols fail to cover the sector he crossed? (BTW, the UAV sensors have since been upgraded.)

IMHO, the Malaysian Government needs to hold on-to Mas Selamat, to close down on all his helpers and his terrorist cell in Malaysia. I suspect we won't have the answers till the Malaysian Government hands him over to Singapore and we begin the dig for Singapore related links to Mas Selamat.

 

[old faithful]

I just returned from Indo/malaysia and Singapore, is this the bloke the malaysians caught in a Kampong just outside johor? the same kampong thats not on Google earth? the same one thats not marked with road signs etc?

 

[OPSSG]

@old faithful, I hope you had a good trip, ate lots of good local food and did lots of shopping.

I just returned from Indo/malaysia and Singapore, is this the bloke the malaysians caught in a Kampong just outside Johor? the same kampong thats not on Google earth? the same one thats not marked with road signs etc?

Yes. According to Singapore newspaper reports, Kampong Tawakal (where Mas Selamat was caught) is not on Google earth and is not easy to find. Kampong Tawakal has a population of less than 100 and is located 10 km from the North-South Expressway near the Kempas exit. Malaysia papers reported that two other Malaysians (a man and a woman) were also arrested. So evidently, Mas Selamat may have had some local help to blend into Kampong Tawakal. Some residents of Kampong Tawakal were reported to be shocked that Mas Selamat was hiding out in a rented house there.

BTW 'Kampong' can be loosely translated as 'village'. In another small town nearby, Ulu Tiram (about 15 km from Skudai and also off the North-South Expressway) was a former breeding ground for Jemaah Islamiyah in 1990s, until the religious school there was shut down by the Malaysian Authorities.

A point of clarification, the nearest better known town next to Kampong Tawakal is Skudai. Skudai has a population of 200,000 and a popular jaunt for Singaporean shoppers. Skudai is well marked on maps of Johor. However, Kampong Tawakal itself is not important enough to be marked on tourist maps.

 

[OPSSG]

1. The untold story of ASEAN and international police co-operation that assisted in the arrest of Mas Selamat.

After Mas Selamat - fled from Singapore's Whitley Road detention centre in February 2008, INTERPOL issued a Red Notice, or international wanted persons alert, which requests the arrest of an individual with a view to their extradition. INTERPOL President and Singapore Police Force Commissioner KHOO Boon Hui said the Red Notice enabled them to draw on the strength of a global network of police to obtain leads to help track down Mas Selamat, as there was the possibility of him surfacing anywhere in the world...

“I have spoken to my counterpart, the Inspector General of the Royal Malaysian Police to thank him personally for the sterling efforts of his officers in arresting this dangerous terrorist,” added President Khoo.

An agreement signed between INTERPOL and Aseanapol in 2007 enables information stored in the electronic Aseanapol Database System (e-ADS) to be accessible to law enforcement worldwide via INTERPOL’s secure global police communications system, I-24/7.

The declaration also means that any searches made of the e-ADS database are automatically run against INTERPOL’s nominal and Stolen Motor Vehicles (SMV) databases as well as INTERPOL’s Stolen and Lost Travel Documents (SLTD) database which currently contains over 18 million documents from more than 140 countries.

2. On 1 June 2009, Malaysia's government announced that they would hold Mas Selamat for two years under a security law that allows for detention without trial. Prime Minister Najib Razak said officials want to obtain more information from Mas Selamat, calling him a 'threat to national security'. It was reported that Malaysian Police monitored Mas Selamat's movements instead of arresting him immediately because 'the most important (thing) sometimes is not the particular target, the most important (thing) sometimes is the networking', Malaysian Home Ministry Secretary General Mahmood Adam said. Mr Mahmood declined to say whether authorities are on the verge of making further arrests, but stressed that Malaysia remained 'very safe and secure'.

 

[Chino]

So is MS (Mas Selamat) back in SG (Singapore) or still in MY (Malaysia) custody?

IMO 2 reasons why MS escaped:

- MS is a master of escape and evasion. He has escaped custody before.
- Singapore's security was at the height of incompetence and overconfidence.

I am one of those who would demand a shakedown of the security apparatus in Singapore, starting with a reprimand of the Minister WKS (Wong Kan Seng)

The first thing I would do is to prohibit him from trying to use humour - like he did during the press conference after the escape. Being Singaporeans, we are not good at using humour and WKS is absolutely crap at using humour.

 

[Chino]

.... how he got from one side of the island to the other, then cross a body of water without any money, food & water and no change of clothes...

We cannot assume he had no help while in Singapore.

We are again being over-confident if we believe we have completely obliterated JI within SG itself.

While we expect him to head north immediately upon escape, this would be exactly the opposite thing he would do - being a cunning master of E&E.

I'm sure SG security also expected him to do the opposite and melt back into SG somewhere and lay low first. Because this will make him a lot harder to catch than if he headed straight for the northern border. And this is exactly what happened, we didn't manage to catch him.

IMO he still has JI sympathisers/contacts/safe houses in Singapore and this was where he headed immediately - he is "Singaporean" after all. Which was why he immediately "disappeared".

After all the "wayang" (show) has died down months later, he simply used his connections and ingenuity to find his way to MY.

 

[Chino]

Conspiracy theories

One I heard before his recapture was that MS was actually "killed off" during detention and the SG govt. pretended that he escaped to avoid retribution from JI.

This has been proven rubbish - like all conspiracy theories.

...

Here's a conspiracy theory of mine own:

Did the SG security intentionally let him escape? They may have taken this risky decision after they arrived at the conclusion that JI in SG/MY is far from finished, and MS being in custody is not helping them find out more (as maybe they can't get him to talk).

So why not not let him lead us (security) to the JI?

Because:.... intentional or otherwise - his escape has probably helped us know more about JI in SG and MY. And as evidenced, the JI is far from finished off. That MS can E&E successfully for over 1 YEAR, is proof.

...

Being Singaporean, deep down I still hope that we weren't really THAT incompetent in not just letting a man with a limp escape, but also unable to catch him in our little island for months!

So deep down a part of me try to explain away this shameful lapse.

But probably it really was just sheer incompetence.

 

[OPSSG]

June 26, 2009 - ALL five men involved in a failed plot to crash a plane into Changi Airport in 2002 have been captured, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) confirmed yesterday.

The final fugitive, Husaini Ismail, was nabbed in Central Java over the weekend by the Indonesian authorities acting on information provided by Singapore. In a series of raids, the Indonesians also caught another Singaporean, Samad Subari, in Lampung province in southern Sumatra. With Husaini's arrest, all five members of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group in the Changi plot led by Mas Selamat Kastari have been captured, MHA said in response to queries from The Straits Times.

Mas Selamat is being detained in Malaysia after he was arrested in Johor in April. The other three are: Mohamed Rashid Zainal Abidin (detained under the Internal Security Act in May 2006); Ishak Mohamed Noohu (detained in November 2006); and Mohammad Hassan Saynudin (arrested in June last year and currently serving an 18-year-jail term in Indonesia).

On Wednesday, Indonesia's Criminal Investigation Director Susno Duadji said that... the Indonesians were trying to verify if indeed the two were Singaporeans and that they were awaiting confirmation from Singapore.

Asked about this, the MHA spokesman told The Straits Times: 'The Internal Security Department had a few weeks ago provided the Indonesian authorities details of the two men, including their fingerprints and their involvement in the JI, as well as current intelligence on them.

'The Indonesian authorities have since told Singapore that the two men are indeed Singapore JI fugitives Husaini and Samad.'

The final fugitive, Husaini Ismail involved in the plot to crash a plane into Changi Airport in 2002 has been captured. I wonder if this arrest is related to the capture of Mas Selamat?

 

[OPSSG]

Malaysian news have announced on 24 Sept 2010 that - "Terror suspect Mas Selamat to be deported to Singapore later today". I'm sure Singapore's ISD is very keen to interrogate him.

For some background on the regional nature of the JI threat, please see this ' thread on Jakarta's Ritz Carlton & JW Marriot new Bombing'

 

[OPSSG]

Singapore thanks Malaysia for repatriating Mas Selamat

Friday, September 24th, 2010 18:26:00 - Singapore today thanked the Malaysian government for repatriating back to the island republic suspected Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist network leader Mas Selamat Kastari who had been detained under Malaysia’s Internal Security Act (ISA) since early last year.

The republic’s Home Affairs Ministry conveyed its deepest appreciation to its Malaysian counterpart, the Malaysian Special Branch and the Special Task Force tasked with his recapture, for their assistance in the arrest and repatriation of Mas Selamat to Singapore.

In a statement issued here following the announcement by the Malaysian police on the release of Mas Selamat today, the ministry said the arrest and repatriation of Mas Selamat illustrated the longstanding close cooperation between the Malaysian and Singaporean security agencies, which had served both countries well.

The ministry said custody of Mas Selamat was handed over to Singapore today by the Malaysian authorities, but it did not reveal how, when and where the handing over of the JI leader took place...

Many thanks to the Malaysian Government and the Malaysian living in Johor for the increased security checks at the causeway. I hope our Minister of Home Affairs, Mr Wong would learn from this incident and ensure that a repeat of the escape does not happen. I hope that relevant systems of the Home Team would be changed, that our security apparatus would re-examine our internal processes and also significantly improve the security at our detention facilities.