Indonesian soldiers cross into Sarawak, kidnap five Malaysians, says report

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 23): Five Malaysians were reported to have been allegedly kidnapped by heavily armed Indonesian soldiers on the Sarawak side of the border and taken to Kalimantan.

A report by The New Sunday Times (NST) stated that the five locals aged between 15 and 64 were collecting wood in the vicinity of Kampung Danau Melikin around noon on Dec 11 when they were confronted by a couple of armed men in camouflaged uniforms.

The two strangers were apparently armed 5.56mm Pindad SS-1 assault rifles, the standard issue weapon of the Indonesian armed forces.The gun is the Indonesian-manufactured version of the Belgian FN FNC automatic rifle.

Kampung Danau Melikin is supposed to be 400m from the Serian-Kalimantan border.

The five were then forced into their four-wheel drive pick up and made to drive to the Indonesian command post in Sungai Enteli in Kalimantan.

They were also reportedly “roughed up” and were told they would be shot if they tried running away. 

After arriving at the command post, the Malaysians were forced “to admit to stealing wood on the Indonesian side.” 

They were then stripped and their heads were covered with black hoods.  

Later in the evening, two of the five were released “to inform the families of the hostages to hand over RM10,000 and two new chainsaws” by the same day.

The two went to Malaysian Army Balai Ringin camp instead to tell the authorities of their plight.

A “line of communication” was then set up with the Indonesians to negotiation for the release of the remaining hostages, reported the NST. The latter were released the next day.

The daily also reported that the police and Malaysian army “had confirmed that the ‘snatch-and-grab’ incident took place on the Malaysian side of the border”; and that Putrajaya has sent a protest note to Jakarta "condemning, in the strongest terms, the alleged incursion and detention of its citizens by Indonesian security forces".