BANDAR BAHARU – The Rohingya ethnic detainees who escaped the Relau Temporary Immigration Detention Depot at Sungai Bakap are dangerous. They may also intrude the residences of local residents.
The Kedah Police Chief, Commissioner Wan Hassan Wan Ahmad said that 176 detainees are still at large, and they are concerned that the ethnic may do anything just to save themselves.
“We are also worried that they may encroach into the locals’ houses as most of them are hungry.
“However, the Kedah Police Contingent has launched the Ops Cantas with the cooperation of the Penang Police to track them down,” he said in a news conference at the Bandar Baharu Police Headquarters today.
Elaborating on the course of riot, Wan Hassan said, preliminary investigation found that there were elements of dissatisfaction before the detainees started a riot and broke out from the detention centre.
He said, 23 officers were on duty at the depot during the incident and they failed to control the situation as the number of detainees who escaped was too big.
“664 detainees were placed at the depot and 528 of them ran away. However, we managed to detect 352 detainees, including six who died in an accident.
“The efforts to hunt down 176 detainees who are still at large is under way and we urge the community to contact the police if they see suspicious Rohingya people around their housing area.
“They (detainees) are easy to identify because all of them ran away without wearing shoes,” said Wan Hassan.
He also reminded the public not to protect the detainees.
The case is investigated under Section 147 of the Penal Code and Section 224 of the same act. -MalaysiaGazette
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