4 detained for questioning in Sabah resort kidnapping
A boat of General Operations Forces team patrolling at a resort area in Semporna in the east coast of Sabah. Photo from The Star/ Asia News Network
KOTA KINABALU—Sabah police have taken in three men and a woman over the kidnapping incident at Singamata Reef Resort off Semporna town in the east coast of Sabah.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Hamza Taib said the four were arrested Thursday evening.
“We are getting their statements and are continuing our investigations,” he said when contacted on Friday.
However, Hamza they had yet to get vital information which could help crack the case.
Following the incident, witnesses told police that they saw three armed men entering the resort with four others waiting onboard a wooden boat below the deck.
Police believe the seven gunmen belong to a “kidnap for ransom” group from the southern Philippines, and have taken their two victims to the Philippines. The Philippines and Malaysia have a porous maritime boundary.
Chinese tourist Gao Huayuan, 29, Filipina resort employee Marcelita M. Dayawan, 40, were abducted from the resort at about 10.30 p.m. on Wednesday.
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