The great escape - how Mas Selamat evaded the dragnet 
JOHOR BARU, May 12 - Not much is known how Mas Selamat Kastari, the Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah leader, evaded arrest in the republic after he slipped out of a maximum security prison on the island in February last year.
Bernama was told that the Singapore's most-wanted militant had holed up in several places on the island, all the time eluding the massive manhunt going on around him.
On the fourth night after he slipped out of Whitley Road detention centre, he reached Woodlands in the northern coast of Singapore and swam across the Tebrau Strait towards Stulang Laut in Johor Baharu under the cover of darkness.
"He used the buoy lights, which mark the border at the Tebrau Strait, as his guide to reach the place where he thought he could find a refuge," a source who is familiar with the operation to nab the fugitive told Bernama today.
Mas Selamat's ability to evade arrest despite the massive manhunt, with thousands of security personnel combing the island and coastal areas, was still a mystery to this day, the source said.
Mas Selamat, who has a limp on his left leg and is said to be an expert in using firearms and in making explosives, was the alleged mastermind of a plot to hijack a jetliner in Bangkok and crash it to Singapore's Changi Airport.
His disappearance from the prison embarrassed Singapore, a country known for its modern security forces.
Apart from launching an islandwide manhunt, Singapore had also tightened security in all entry points but found no trace of Mas Selamat even as days, weeks and months went by.
The manhunt finally ended early last month with the fugitive's capture by Malaysian police in Skudai, more than a year after his escape in broad daylight.
The source said that despite every possibility of bumping into security forces deployed to nab him, Mas Selamat managed to reach Woodlands - a journey that would have taken him across densely populated areas.
"It is still a puzzle how he managed to avoid arrest and travel up to Woodlands, which is not a short distance from Whitley Road. "Perhaps we will be able to know later whether he had walked to Woodlands or used public transport, and the route he had taken to reach Woodlands," he said. The security in Woodlands is no less tight because it is the main checkpoints for the hundreds of thousands commuters going to and coming from the Johor Causeway.
He said the Singapore authorities had also tightened security in Tebrau Strait in anticipation of Mas Selamat making a dash across the narrow waterway.
The Singapore coast guard, he said, stationed boats in every one kilometre along the sea border, a proof of how tight the security had been.
But no amount of tight security managed to stop the elusive Mas Selamat from fleeing the island.
To reach Stulang Laut, Mas Selamat would have swum in between the patrolling boats.
As reported by Bernama previously, upon reaching Stulang Laut, Mas Selamat met his trusted friends Abdul Matin in Ulu Tiram and Johar Hassan, who lived in a village in Skudai, Johor Baharu.
The source also refuted reports that the capture of Mas Selamat in Johor was the result of a joint operation between the Malaysian police and the neighbouring country's police.
"Although we did exchange intelligence, the operation to trace and capture Mas Selamat was carried out fully by the Malaysian police.
"Foreign agencies cannot carry out any intelligence operation in the country," he said. - Bernama
JOHOR BARU, May 12 - Not much is known how Mas Selamat Kastari, the Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah leader, evaded arrest in the republic after he slipped out of a maximum security prison on the island in February last year.
Bernama was told that the Singapore's most-wanted militant had holed up in several places on the island, all the time eluding the massive manhunt going on around him.
On the fourth night after he slipped out of Whitley Road detention centre, he reached Woodlands in the northern coast of Singapore and swam across the Tebrau Strait towards Stulang Laut in Johor Baharu under the cover of darkness.
"He used the buoy lights, which mark the border at the Tebrau Strait, as his guide to reach the place where he thought he could find a refuge," a source who is familiar with the operation to nab the fugitive told Bernama today.
Mas Selamat's ability to evade arrest despite the massive manhunt, with thousands of security personnel combing the island and coastal areas, was still a mystery to this day, the source said.
Mas Selamat, who has a limp on his left leg and is said to be an expert in using firearms and in making explosives, was the alleged mastermind of a plot to hijack a jetliner in Bangkok and crash it to Singapore's Changi Airport.
His disappearance from the prison embarrassed Singapore, a country known for its modern security forces.
Apart from launching an islandwide manhunt, Singapore had also tightened security in all entry points but found no trace of Mas Selamat even as days, weeks and months went by.
The manhunt finally ended early last month with the fugitive's capture by Malaysian police in Skudai, more than a year after his escape in broad daylight.
The source said that despite every possibility of bumping into security forces deployed to nab him, Mas Selamat managed to reach Woodlands - a journey that would have taken him across densely populated areas.
"It is still a puzzle how he managed to avoid arrest and travel up to Woodlands, which is not a short distance from Whitley Road. "Perhaps we will be able to know later whether he had walked to Woodlands or used public transport, and the route he had taken to reach Woodlands," he said. The security in Woodlands is no less tight because it is the main checkpoints for the hundreds of thousands commuters going to and coming from the Johor Causeway.
He said the Singapore authorities had also tightened security in Tebrau Strait in anticipation of Mas Selamat making a dash across the narrow waterway.
The Singapore coast guard, he said, stationed boats in every one kilometre along the sea border, a proof of how tight the security had been.
But no amount of tight security managed to stop the elusive Mas Selamat from fleeing the island.
To reach Stulang Laut, Mas Selamat would have swum in between the patrolling boats.
As reported by Bernama previously, upon reaching Stulang Laut, Mas Selamat met his trusted friends Abdul Matin in Ulu Tiram and Johar Hassan, who lived in a village in Skudai, Johor Baharu.
The source also refuted reports that the capture of Mas Selamat in Johor was the result of a joint operation between the Malaysian police and the neighbouring country's police.
"Although we did exchange intelligence, the operation to trace and capture Mas Selamat was carried out fully by the Malaysian police.
"Foreign agencies cannot carry out any intelligence operation in the country," he said. - Bernama
