His hideout revealed

Villagers in sleepy Kampung Tawakal stunned to discover reclusive stranger was a fugitive

by Leong Wee Keat

05:55 AM May 12, 2009

 

EVEN the next-door neighbours had diverging ideas about who he was, eight months after he moved into their rustic Johor kampung.

Mas Selamat Kastari lived on the ground floor of this house.

Photo by ERNEST CHUA

Mr Jamian Simin, who often saw the man gardening or repairing the drains, thought he was a live-in subcontractor hired by his neighbour Johar Hassan. “He was very quiet,” the 70-year-old retiree told Today. “Almost to the extent of being aloof.”

Another neighbour was spun a different tale: The stranger was Johar’s “cousin” who was staying with them as he had “family problems”, he was told.

The man was polite, said the neighbour, and spent his time lazing on the porch of the two-storey house, bathing from a well in the backyard, or going fishing at a nearby canal and barbequing his catch.

Other neighbours told The Star that he ventured out only after dark, in a white robe and turban. “He never spoke to anyone. And he never prayed at the local surau,’’ said Mr Mohd Saat Marjo, 56, who lived opposite.

But Kampung Tawakal was more than a retreat for the reclusive stranger while he sorted out his domestic issues. The tiny village, with a population of less than 100, appeared the ideal hiding place for Jemaah Islamiyah fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari.

About a 30-minute drive from the Causeway and 20 minutes away from Skudai town, Kampung Tawakal nestles between oil palm plantations and the Berjaya industrial estate, with the Starhill Golf and Country Club a short distance away.

Not marked on most maps and with no signs pointing to it, the village that sits 10km off the North-South Highway is almost impossible to locate for those unfamiliar with the area - it took the Today team more than two hours and several requests for directions.

But once at the village, the house where Mas Selamat was captured on April 1 stood out.

 

Like time stood still.

While the other houses had been rebuilt with concrete and coated with fresh paint, this house was made of wood and the paint had long since faded off. Electrical wires, which skirted the exterior, were left dangling and holes marked the walls.

In the kitchen where Mas Selamat sought refuge.

Photo by ERNEST CHUA

Shoes, slippers, toys, wood and bicycle parts littered the unfenced, spacious compound about the size of a basketball court. At the back were sheds that stored wooden doors, scrap metal and plastic pipes.

The interior of the house - or what could be seen through the windows - appeared neat and tidy. A punching bag hung in the living area of the ground floor where Mas Selamat resided.

It looked as if time had stood still for the house: Dead fish floated in an aquarium, and a wheelbarrow was filled with dried leaves and branches that someone was clearing before the work was abruptly interrupted.

Villagers recalled when that moment was. At about 6am on April 1, Mr Tukiman Aziz was sending his child to school when seven unmarked cars whizzed past.

“I didn’t know what was going on. We never had that many cars entering the village at once,” he said.

The cars stopped at Johar’s house. Mr Jamian, who was having tea with his wife, said some 30 armed policemen surrounded the house and ordered Mas Selamat to come out. When he refused, they stormed in.

The backyard, which has a well where neighbours said Mas Selamat had bathed.

Photo by ERNEST CHUA

 

Villagers then saw a man being led out with his face covered in a dark blue cloth. The operation was over in “a few minutes”, they said, and no shots were heard. Afterward, the officers searched the house and swept the compound with devices.

 

A kampung bewildered

According to The Star, last week Johar was arrested at his workplace. He was reportedly one of two men who came to the fugitive’s aid after he swam across the Johor Straits using an improvised flotation device.

Picture from Yahoo! News

Villagers knew little about Johar or his wife and two young children, who moved into the kampung two years ago. They had lived on the second floor while Mas Selamat had occupied the ground floor. Neighbours said Johar’s wife kept to herself and was seen around the village wearing a veil.

Yesterday, as the Singapore and Malaysia media descended on the sleepy village, bewildered residents found themselves unexpectedly the centre of attention.

Many could not believe the stranger who had lived in their midst was a fugitive terrorist who had been on the run for more than 13 months. “I never thought he was Mas Selamat,” said Mr Tukiman. “He seemed like a normal person. Like you and me.”

From TODAY, Home – Tuesday, 12-May-2009