Source: ChannelNewsAsia
Massive manhunt on Pulau Tekong for 3 armed robbers fleeing
Johor
By Derek Cher, Channel NewsAsia
SINGAPORE : A massive manhunt was underway on Thursday on Pulau
Tekong for three robbers, believed to be Indonesians, who are armed
with a pistol and a shotgun.
The trio fled to the island, used by Singapore for military
training, in a wooden boat after two robberies in Johor on Thursday
morning.
The hunt on Pulau Tekong began at 9 am.
Heavily armed soldiers, police special force officers as well as a
dozen sniffer dogs were sent to flush out the three armed
robbers.
To stop them from escaping using the same boat in which they fled
from Johor, the island was cordoned off by the Coast Guard.
And since 90 percent of Pulau Tekong is covered in dense forest,
two helicopters also joined the manhunt.
The Police Coast Guard has also set up a command post at the jetty
to facilitate the search operations.
At least one Malaysian patrol craft was also spotted in the waters
just off Pulau Tekong.
"This group of robbers, one armed with a revolver and the other
with a pump gun ... I believe they are dangerous," said
Superintendent Tajudin Isa, Officer-in-Charge, Kota Tinggi
District.
There is no housing on the island but there are two army camps,
where most 18-year-old males do their three-month basic military
training.
Training in camp is proceeding and only field training has been
suspended.
"We recalled the trainees and recruits on the island back to camp.
All of them are accounted for and safe. However, training is
proceeding as normal because we are in control of the situation.
What's happening now is that we've activated operationally trained
soldiers," said Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Tan, Chief General
Staff, HQ Infantry.
Right through the afternoon, more and more troops were deployed to
Pulau Tekong to join in the manhunt.
By the evening, there were some 700 soldiers, police special forces
and Gurkhas.
"To search for three people in a forested area is not easy," said
Senior Assistant Commissioner Tan Puay Kern of the Singapore Police
Force.
"Our soldiers are equipped with personal assault rifles. They are
all trained to respond according to the situation."
To make things even more difficult, it also began to rain in the
late afternoon, which slowed down the manhunt further.
The search began in the reclaimed area in the southern part of the
island, where the robbers landed.
But by the evening, the focus had shifted to the heavily-forested
central and northern parts of Pulau Tekong.
As it turned dark, troops had to use night-vision goggles.
"If we assess it is safe for our officers and the SAF officers to
continue with the search, we will do so. If we assess it is not
safe to do so, then we will stop the search, secure the area we
have covered and then resume our search at daylight," said SAC Tan.
- CNA
