Apart from the police, other Home Affairs Ministry agencies involved in the search include the Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB), the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and the Immigration & Checkpoints Authority.

Each agency is on 'high alert' and 'helping in any way it can', Deputy Prime Minister and Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng said yesterday.

He was speaking at this year's Home Team Flagship Workshop at the Suntec Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre.

Apart from additional manpower, each agency is also bringing to the table expertise and equipment from their regular fields of operations that will be useful in the manhunt.

Through cracking drug rings, for example, the CNB has honed its intelligence gathering and investigative skills. It has now put its 'ears to the ground to pick up any leads', Mr Wong said.

The SCDF has deployed its powerful searchlights to aid the police in their sweeps after dark. It has also provided hand-held thermal imagers, which enable officers to detect people in darkness.

Other groups and ordinary Singaporeans have also stepped forward to help out. The united response of those inside and outside the Home Team was heartening, said Mr Wong.

'Indeed, without excusing the lapse which led to Mas Selamat's escape, our Home Team officers should not lose heart, for they have done much to be proud of,' he said.

joolin@sph.com.sg