Mas Selamat

Graffiti of Mas Selamat on a wall at Ann Siang Road

I woke up this morning and my news feed says Mas Selamat has been captured! Wow I really thought he was a foregone conclusion after his Copperfield disappearing act from Whitley detention centre on February 27 last year via a toilet window, and would never resurface again, but lo and behold, Encik mas selamat plans was foiled none other than our Malaysian counterparts.

Yes he’s there currently and it seems he has been captured some six weeks ago in Johor Bahru on April 1st, no its no April Fools joke, and now only officially the word is out he’s under arrest. I reckon we’ve an extradition agreement with Malaysia, and will be brought back to Singapore to face more counts of charges for his escape.

Mas Selamat bin Kastari, the escaped Singapore militant arrested in Malaysia, and the alleged head of Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) in the Singapore had eluded our biggest manhunt ever which lasted more than a year, and I really want to know how he did that.

Did he had help, what was his plan of escape. Will there be a Prison Break 2: Singapore version by Mediacorp, hehe, but I’m really sure Crimewatch would glorify this capture in their next episode show.

Already the fair-share of praises and patting on the shoulder has begun, via news feed at CNA: “The terrorist, who once plotted to hijack a plane and crash it into Changi Airport, was arrested in Malaysia in a joint intelligence operation involving the internal security agencies of the two countries.”

But I have a hunch somehow Mas Selamat made a mistake or someone he knows gave him up. That how it always happens in the movie right? Well I’m sure the story will unravel soon, as more news reports comes in.

Wanted posters are visible everywhere in Singapore after his escape, such as this one at Somerset MRT Station.

Mas Selamat Saga Timeline

1. 2001 - Escaped from Singapore after authorities conducted a massive operation to suspected JI members in Singapore.
2. February 2003 - Arrested in in the island of Bintan, Indonesia. jailed for 18 months in 2003 for immigration offenses. Wasn’t handed over to Singapore as we don’t have extradition treaty with Indonesia. During imprisonment, he broke his left leg in a botched attempt to escape when he jumped from a high floor, resulting him walking in a permanent limp.
3. 20 January 2006 - Arrested again for using a fake identity card in Java. Claims to be visiting his son who was studying at a religious school there.
4. 3 February 2006 - Singapore request for Mas Selamat’s extradition from Indonesia granted. Detained under the Internal Security Act without trial. The Malaysian intelligence authorities also wanted to question Mas Selamat who had made frequent visits to Johor before fleeing to Indonesia in 2001.
5. 27 February 2008 - At 4.05pm on Wednesday, the JI leader escaped from the Internal Security Department’s Whitley Road Detention Centre where he was being detained. His family were visiting him, and escaped from the toilet window where he was changing his clothes. Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng acknowledged that a security lapse led to his escape, offers resignation for which Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong rejects.
6. 8 May 2009 – Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia the first to report a possible arrest of Mas Selamat by Malaysian authorities