Police claim to know identity of kidnappers

KOTA KINABALU: Police believe they have identified the group involved in the kidnapping of three fishermen in the waters at Pegasus Reef off Kinabatangan early this month.

Sabah deputy police commissioner Datuk Zaini Jass however declined to comment further amid police investigation and the safety of the hostages.

“Our main priority is the safety of the hostages, so we can’t reveal much information,” he said.

Zaini was asked to comment on the latest development on the abduction of Heri Ardiansyah, 19, Jari Abdullah, 34, and Hariadin, 45, who were taken hostages by either a kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) group or the Abu Sayyaf on December 5 .

The Marine Operations Force (MOF) found the fishermen’s abandoned fishing vessel in the waters at Pegasus Reef, off Kinabatangan following an earlier attempt by four armed masked men to rob and kidnap 13 tugboat crewmen from the Magtrans II tugboat that was on its way to Papua New Guinea from Bintulu, Sarawak to collect timber.

Sabah police commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah had revealed that the wife of one of the victims had received a telephone call from her husband about a week after the disappearance of the three fishermen.

The police are trying to pinpoint the location where the victims had been taken but believe they are somewhere in the Philippines.