No underground tunnel found - Police

Sabah Police Commisioner Datuk Hamza Taib has denied accusations that the terrorists from the Philippines managed to enter Kampung Tanduo from an underground tunnel built since November of last year.

“As of now, we have not recieved any information regarding the tunnel.

“In fact, when our army made the attack from the air, we didn’t found the tunnel as only cars were found damaged,” he said when contacted during a ‘Live’ recording of TV3’s ‘Malaysia Hari Ini’ programme.

He was answering a report made my a local newspaper that quoted local residents of Kampung Tanduo as saying that the Sulu terrorists had made proper planning when entering the village, including building an underground tunnel.

Villagers accused the terrorists of using excavator to dig a hole as though they were looking for gold. However, the villagers accused them of building a stronghold and tunnel which could be used as a hiding place when attacked.

When asked if the terrorists are only at Kampung Tanduo and Kampung Tanjung Batu, Hamzah said: “We can’t assume them (terrorists) are in these two villages only.”

When asked about an incident in which a teenage boy was killed while another was injured on his left leg after being shot by the security forces during an operation to hunt down the intruders at Kampung Sungai Bilis yesterday, Hamza said the incident happened within the operation zone.

He explained that within such area, the security forces are constantly ready and will not give any chances for the enemy to counter-attack.

“In any situations, we will take action for any movements and that is why the security forces always warned the public not to be within such zones.”