No link between Pulau Pom Pom incident and terrorist intrusion

There was no link between the abduction and murder at Pulau Pom Pom, Semporna early Friday and the terrorist intrusion in Lahad Datu, Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) director-general Datuk Mohammad Mentek assured.

He said the latest incident was an isolated criminal case.

"I advise the public not to panic as the situation here is under control. We await police investigation and don't make any speculation," he told a media conference at the Esscom office at the Marine Police Base near here Friday.

Mohammad said the incident at 1am involved two Taiwanese tourists. The 57-year-old male victim was shot dead in a chalet while the female victim, aged 56, was believed to have been abducted by an unidentified group.

"At the moment we do not have any information on the culprits and police are investigating the motive," he said.

Mohammad said Esscom has stepped up security measures particularly on the islands, adding that Esscom planned to hold a meeting with tour and resort centre operators to discuss security aspects.

"We will make an assessment on security preparedness on the islands," he said.

Meanwhile, Mohammad said the long and wide coastline at the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (Esszone) made it tedious for the security forces to control every inch of the border.