Police on the hunt for escaped Casanova

Police are on the hunt for a 45-year-old Casanova who escaped from their custody as he was being taken to the Penang prison after attending court in Cameron Highlands, Pahang.

Penang CPO Datuk Abdul Rahim Hanafi said a woman assistant superintendent of police had been detained for allegedly helping the man to escape from the Sessions Court here yesterday afternoon.

As he was being transported (from Cameron Highlands) to prison, the woman officer ordered the man to be brought to her office at 2pm for questioning over an extortion case, he told reporters.

The officer, who was being remanded on suspicion of having allowed the man to escape, was being investigated for negligence, he said.

Abdul Rahim said the man, who was facing more than 10 cases of cheating in Penang, Perak, Johor and Kedah, was arrested last January for having duped women by claiming to be a Datuk Seri and a doctor.

He said the man was 165 cm tall, weighed about 50kg, had short hair, and was last wearing a purple round-necked T-shirt and short brown pants.

The police believed that the man, whose last known address was Taman Mas, Ipoh, was still in Penang, he said.

Abdul Rahim appealed to members of the public who had information on the man to contact any police station.

He said the police were looking for Prabaharan Kesavan to help in the investigation.