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Gurkhas combing the Goldhill Avenue area, including drains and empty houses searching for escaped JI leader, Mas Selamat. -- ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUAN
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SENIOR Staff Sergeant Tan Beng Beng of Special Operations Command (SOC) had no clue the man he was activated to hunt down on Wednesday was terrorist Mas Selamat Kastari - until later.
However, armed with a description of the 47-year-old escapee, he joined other officers in searching a wooded area near Whitley Road Detention Centre.
The officers have hardly rested since. They will look everywhere - from forests and coastlines to abandoned buildings - until the fugitive is found.
More than 1,000 people - including the SOC, police land divisions, Gurkhas and Immigration & Checkpoints Authority officers - have been deployed in the massive manhunt, said Assistant Commissioner Wong Hong Kuan, police director of operations on Sunday.
In response to questions, he gave an overview of the operations to recapture Mas Selamat from the time he fled at 4.05pm that day.
The checkpoints were alerted. The borders, including 'unauthorised' getaway points, such as those along Singapore's northern coast, were secured and have since stayed locked down.
Meanwhile, troops cordoned off the neighbourhoods near the detention centre to conduct a systematic search.
As this was done, police received a tip that Mas Selamat had been seen in the Malcolm Road area, which is near the detention centre. A two-day 'intensive search' was done there until the authorities were satisfied he was not there.
AC Wong said: 'As the days go on, chances are he's got further and further away from the centre, so the search widens while we strengthen the border controls we have in place.'
Describing the forest as a 'premier hiding location', he said every patch of forest in Singapore will be combed.
In such wooded areas, officers look out for fresh trails, among other signs. They also have ways of knowing if an intruder moves into combed areas after the search has shifted elsewhere.
Read the full story in Monday's edition of The Straits Times.
Also read: Commuter's tip-off sets off massive Bukit Batok search, Mas Selamat acted alone, still in S'pore: Police, Search for fugitive Mas Selemat: How the public can help the police.
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