Singaporean authorities have received more than 1,100 tips from the public in its manhunt for an alleged terrorist leader who escaped jail two weeks ago, police said on Wednesday. Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the alleged Singapore head of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) which is blamed for deadly attacks including the 2002 Bali bombings, vanished on February 27 after asking to use the toilet in his detention centre.The phoned-in tips had been received from the public as of Monday after police asked for information leading to KastariÂ’s arrest, police director of operations Wong Hong Kuan said.
A number of false alarms have been triggered by information that Indonesia-born Kastari walks with a limp. People have also sent in tips via e-mail.
Security forces were still conducting searches almost island-wide, with a focus on forested tracts though it was not “neglecting the urban built-up areas,” Wong said.
Local media have described the search — involving police, the military and Nepalese Gurkha paramilitary forces — as the biggest manhunt in the history of Singapore, which has lush nature reserves and densely populated housing blocks.
Pictures of the wanted man have been plastered across the city-state and sent to mobile phone subscribers. Security forces in neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia were also on the lookout for Kastari, but Singapore insists he is unlikely to have fled the island. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday that Singapore remained optimistic it can capture him.
Kastari, 47, was accused of plotting to hijack a plane in order to crash it into SingaporeÂ’s busy Changi Airport in 2001, but he was never charged in court. He was being held under an internal security law that allows for detention without trial.