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KOTA KINABALU: One of the five Indonesian fishermen kidnapped in the Lahad Datu district of Sabah earlier this year is believed to have been killed in a shooting on September 28.
Regional intelligence sources said the victim was in a group along with gunmen linked to Abu Sayyaf when the shooting occurred.
The victim whose identity has not yet been determined accidentally died during the incident.
He is among five Indonesian fishermen who were kidnapped in waters between Tambisan and Kuala Meruap in Lahad Datu, near the Philippine maritime border, on January 16 this year.
Efforts are being made to contact the Sabah security forces on this matter.
In April, they were “released” by their captors from Abu Sayyaf, but were “held” again by another group that facilitated their release.
The sources said that the intermediaries for the Indonesian hostage families had “agreed” to the demands of a key abduction group from Abu Sayyaf led by sub-command Mike Apo, who handed them over to the intermediaries linked to Abu Sayyaf.
However, the source said that the “intermediaries” were now holding the hostages and demanding additional payment.
The source explained that negotiations were now taking place with a Jolo “middle man” led by a woman, once closely associated with a powerful leader of the Moro National Liberation Front.
For now, the source said intermediaries were demanding additional costs incurred for the launch and negotiations were still ongoing.
The fishermen were abducted by six armed men dressed in black overalls from their registered trawler in Sabah during the 8pm incident on January 16.
The abducted crew members were the skipper of the trawler Arsyad Dahlan, 41, La Baa, 32, Riswanto Hayano, 27, Edi Lawalopo, 53, and Syarizal Kastamiran, 29.
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