438 Ops Daulat case items handed over to Sabah PDRM Museum

LAHAD DATU: A total of 438 case exhibits belonging to the Sulu terrorist group that were seized under Ops Daulat in 2013 have been handed over to the Sabah Royal Police (PDRM) Museum to be preserved as historical artefacts.

Bukit Aman Criminal Investigation Department (CID) director Datuk Seri Abd Jalil Hassan said the items, which were handed over today, included 56 different types of firearms and ammunition, 48 knives and machetes, 95 documents comprising identity cards, pamphlets and letters as well as 110 other exhibits.

"Earlier, the department, through the Attorney-General's Office, submitted an application to the Federal Court for all the seized exhibits and items from the Ops Daulat case to be handed over to the PDRM for the preservation of historical material.

"The panel of Federal Court judges, which met on Jan 15, 2018, granted the application, which involved 812 exhibits and Ops Daulat case items, namely 329 exhibits such as clothing, communication equipment and samples, to be permanently disposed of.

"Meanwhile, 438 items were kept at the Sabah PDRM Museum," he told reporters after the disposal and handing-over of the items today.

Bukit Aman Management Department director Datuk Seri Zaini Jass witnessed the handover of the exhibits from Abdul Jalil to Sabah deputy police commissioner Datuk Jauteh Dikun as the representative of the Sabah PDRM Museum.

In addition, Abdul Jalil said cash worth 341,000 pesos (RM27,000) was handed over to the Treasury Department under the Ministry of Finance in compliance with the Lahad Datu Magistrate's Court order dated April 13, 2013.

Meanwhile, Jauteh said the Sabah government had allocated RM1 million for the Sabah PDRM Museum and another RM150,000 to build the Ops Daulat Memorial in Tanduo.

He said both projects are currently underway and are expected to be completed by the 10th anniversary of the invasion in March this year.

On Feb 12, 2013, a group of 200 to 250 Sulu terrorists, who called themselves the Royal Sulu Force (RSF), intruded into the Tanduo village here in stages from Simunul Island, Sibutu Island, and Sipakkut Island in the southern Philippines.

The climax of the invasion was a shootout on March 1, 2013, between security forces and the RSF in Tanduo.

-- BERNAMA