THE biggest guessing game in town is: Where is he?
While some believe Jemaah Islamiah (JI) leader Mas Selamat Kastari has fled the country after escaping from jail on Wednesday afternoon, those with expertise in law enforcement and terrorism thought otherwise.
Mr Jeffrey Seah, director of the Security Industry Institute, said: 'I don't think he has left Singapore because the situation is too hot right now. He's probably trying to hide until things have cooled down.'
Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna of the International Centre for Political Violence and Terrorism Research here agreed, adding that the JI leader is waiting for the right time to flee to Indonesia.
'Singapore and Malaysia are very hostile environments for him, but Indonesia is vast, and the JI remains a significant force there,' he said.
A security expert with extensive law enforcement experience said the authorities are likely to move into the next phase of their operations.
He said: 'This next phase depends a lot on intelligence, such as finding out who his contacts could be, who he knows, and whether an informant would tip the Internal Security Department off.'
Throughout yesterday, police officers or soldiers were spotted in areas such as Bukit Panjang and Thomson.
The massive manhunt on Wednesday was 'standard operations procedure' but the number of officers deployed showed how much they wanted him, the experts added.
'Just when exactly the detention centre realised he had escaped would be very important to the whole operations.'
The moment the authorities discovered he was missing, three things would kick in.
'Officers will conduct a physical search of the vicinity where he went missing, and this will fan outwards in the direction of where he was last spotted. This will depend on information such as accounts of eyewitnesses,' Dr Gunaratna said.
At the same time, all land, sea and air checkpoints will be put on high alert.
The authorities will also keep watch at all his usual haunts in case he shows up there.
Another former senior law enforcement officer said he is certain that Mas Selamat is still in Singapore and would have got in touch with his contacts by now. 'He's not stupid. He will not go back to his family because he knows he will be watched,' he said.
'But he's trained in Afghanistan so he knows about survival. He's the type who can hide in drains and canals for hours and days on end.'
Even if he evades the dragnet, it would not be easy for him to leave the country.
Mr Seah said Mas Selamat would need help to do that. 'He's definitely not going to leave by conventional means, so maybe he would swim across or hijack a boat...he would want to wait until the time is ripe.'
The police pulling out of the Goldhill area on Thursday night may just be a tactic to lull Mas Selamat into a sense of security and draw him out of his hiding, he added.
END
They better pray hard that Mas Selamat is still in singapore, cos if he isnt then Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng has more than a sorry to say. To me chances of capturing him isnt high as 3 days has pass, the more hours ticking by the lesser chance sg has in getting him back. Latest news is that interpol has regard this matter as red notice alert not like yesterday it's only orange notice alert ... ...
