Malaysian Bali jail escapee's case monitored by embassy

Malaysian Ambassador to Indonesia, Datuk Seri Zahrain Mohamed Hashim said the embassy had confirmed the escapee, Tee Kok King, 50, was serving a prison term of seven years and six months for a drug-related offence.

"We have been informed of the escape and confirm Tee is from Johor Bahru," he told the Malaysian media here today.

Tee began serving the prison sentence from last September following his arrest in a raid by the Indonesian authorities at a hotel in Bali on Jan 25 last year.

On Monday, prison officials discovered Tee and three other foreign prisoners, namely Australian Shaun Edward Davidson, 33, Bulgarian Dimitar Nikolov Iliev, 43, and Indian national Sayed Mohammed Said, 31, missing from their cell after they failed to turn up at the morning parade.

Investigators later discovered an underground tunnel in one of the cells believed to have been dug by the prisoners to facilitate their escape.

However, the 15-metre long tunnel which was about 60cm in diameter was filled with water and mud and the investigation team was unable to confirm whether the prisoners were able to escape through the narrow tunnel.

Cases of inmates escaping from overcrowded prisons have been the norm in Indonesia.

In early May, 260 prisoners from Pekanbaru Prison, Riau escaped after Friday prayers when they found the jail door open.

In the last two weeks, as many as 44 prison inmates in Jambi fled after the prison wall collapsed due to floods.

On May 26, 17 prisoners from the Palembang prison escaped in the wee hours of the morning.