KUALA LUMPUR:Residents of Medan 88, Bandar Baru Salak Tinggi, Sepang did not run away but instead they were frightened upon knowing that their housing area has been placed under the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO) which came into force last Wednesday.

Sepang district police chief ACP Wan Kamarul Azran Wan Yusof said many of the residents in the area were at their workplace when the announcement on the enforcement of EMCO was made, leaving them unaware of what was happening.

He said when they returned home from work and saw army personnel were installing barbed wire coupled with the presence of policemen at their residence, they were afraid to enter the area.

“No individual from the area has ran away like what has been reported by the media previously.

“There are between 700 and 800 residents living in the area and about 400 of them have yet to be screened for COVID-19,” he told Bernama today.

He said the 13 Medan 88 resident who were suspected of running away from EMCO had returned to their respective home since 9 pm yesterday.

Wan Kamarul Azran said they comprised 10 men including seven foreign nationals and three women and no arrest had been made.

He said efforts to track down others who have yet to return home are being carried out with the cooperation of residents in the area.

Yesterday, Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said police were tracking down about 400 residents of Medan 88 who did not return home after it was announced that the area would be placed under EMCO.

Meanwhile, Selangor police chief Datuk Noor Azam Jamaludin said they would obtain information on the location of workers from Medan 88 who allegedly did not return to their respective homes, from their employers.

He said the police would also seek cooperation from their colleagues in order to locate their whereabouts.

“Police are also in the midst of identifying the actual number of individuals who are said to have ran away after receiving information that the area was installed with barbed wire due to the implementation of EMCO.

"The 400 figures are only a rough estimate,” he told Bernama.

-- BERNAMA