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SINGAPORE : Singapore 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 Kastari, the alleged leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) cell in Singapore, vanished on February 27 after asking to use the toilet in the Whitley detention centre.
More than 1,100 phoned-in tips had been received from the public as of Monday after police appealed for information on Mas Selamat, police director of operations Wong Hong Kuan told AFP.
A number of false alarms have been triggered by information that Indonesia-born Mas Selamat 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 told AFP.
The search involving police, the military and the Gurkha soldiers is the biggest manhunt in the history of Singapore. Pictures of the wanted man have been plastered across Singapore and even sent to mobile phone subscribers.
Security forces in neighbouring Indonesia and Malaysia were also on the lookout for Mas Selamat, but Singapore insists that he is unlikely to have fled the country.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said on Sunday that Singapore remained optimistic it can capture him. Mr Lee said: "I've been talking to the ministers responsible and I think we have a pretty good chance of catching him, provided he's still in Singapore."
Meanwhile, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew said Singapore should brace itself for an attack if Mas Selamat manages to flee Singapore and rejoin his JI comrades.
47-year-old Mas Selamat was accused of plotting to hijack a plane in order to crash it into 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.
Interpol has issued an international red alert for Mas Selamat.
- AFP/vm
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