'We don't know. He could be here, he could be overseas. We have tried our best to make sure that he doesn't go anywhere but short though our borders may be, they are difficult to watch all the time. Conceivably, he might have gone off but we don't know.

'What is the lesson out of this? Never let your guard down. We made a mistake. He's a very determined man and he was more alert and he outwitted us and outsmarted us and he's one up on us.

But the game is not over and one day we will catch him.'

PM Lee, replying to a question on where fugitive JI leader Mas Selamat Kastari could be.

Mas Selamat escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre in February, sparking a massive manhunt.