Zahid Hamidi orders arrest of intruders' henchmen

The authorities in Sabah have been instructed to monitor the movement of permanent residents (PR) in a bid to identify those who have become the henchmen of intruders and kidnappers from neighbouring countries and to arrest them.

Home Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government would not hesitate to take legal action against those found to be the henchmen for such groups.

"We will not compromise and once we have valid information, they will not get away... we can use the existing laws, such as the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (Sosma) or the Police Act 1967 against these henchmen," he told reporters after being interviewed in the 'Mesej Dari Penjara' segment in TV3's Wanita Hari Ini programme Thursday.

Ahmad Zahid was commenting on the ambush by a group of armed men in Pulau Mabul last Saturday, which claimed the life of a marine police corporal Ab.Rajah Jamuan, 32.

The group also abducted constable Zakia Aliep, 26.

Prior to this, Bernama reported that illegal immigrants were believed to be the henchmen of the mastermind behind kidnapping incidents in the east coast of Sabah.

Ahmad Zahid said in implementing the monitoring activity, the government was not planning to separate the settlements according to the various ethnicities in Sabah as the henchmen did not comprise a certain ethnic background.

"We cannot separate them according to Tausug or other ethnicities because we don't see them (henchmen) as a certain ethnicity, hence the monitoring activity will be done in detail to ensure that no one will be wrongly prosecuted," he said.