Sandakan kidnapping: Incident in Sabah recurs

The calm environment on the East Coast of Sabah was once again shaken with the kidnapping of a woman and a man at Ocean King Restaurant in Sandakan on Thursday.

The victims were Thien Nyuk Fun, 50, the seafood restaurant owner and Bernard Then, 39, a consultant from Kuala Lumpur.

In the 7.26pm incident, both victims were having dinner when four men armed with machetes and pistols rushed in and took them into a boat and sped off.

On July 27 last year, a marine police constable, Zakia Aliep, 27, was kidnapped, while her colleague, Corporal Ab Rajah Jamuan, 32, was killed in the incident.

Zakia was however released unharmed on March 7 this year.

On June 16, 2014, a fish farm operator, Chan Sai Chiun, 32, was kidnapped from the farm before being released on Dec 10 the same year.

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Police hunting Ocean King Restaurant kidnappers and victims Sandakan kidnapping: Police alerted over armed kidnappers, two victims

On May 6, 2014, a Chinese national, Yang Zailin, 34, a fish farm manager was kidnapped by five men in Pulau Baik in Lahad Datu and was rescued by the authorities on July 10, 2014.

On April 2, 2014, another Chinese national, Gao Hua Yuan, 29, and Filipino resort employee Marcy Dayawan, 40, were kidnapped at Singamata Adventures and Reef Resort, about two nautical miles from Semporna and were freed on May 30, 2014.

On Nov 15, 2013, a Taiwanese tourist, Hsu Li Min, 57, was shot dead while his female companion, An Wei Chang, 58, was kidnapped by a group of men at Pulau Pom Pom near Semporna before being rescued by the authorities on Dec 20, 2013.