Mas Selamat bin Kastari  

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Mas Selamat bin Kastari

Mas Selamat bin Kastari (born 1961, age 51), an Indonesian-born Singaporean, was allegedly the head of the Singapore branch of the militant Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) group and Singapore's most-wanted fugitive who escaped from detention on 27 February 2008. Suspected of plotting to bomb Singapore Changi Airport in 2002 by crashing a hijacked a plane from Bangkok,[2] apart from planning to crash 7 bomb-filled trucks at various locations around the city-state,[3] the search for him has been described as the largest manhunt ever launched in Singapore.[4] Mas Selamat was recaptured in Johor Bahru, Malaysia on 1 April 2009, over a year after his escape.[5]



2.   Involvement in terrorism: Born in Kendal, Central Java, Mas Selamat grew up in Kaki Bukit, leading a typical childhood kampung life. He is believed to have joined Darul Islam, a precursor movement to the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) group some time around 1990 and by 1992, had joined the Singapore JI cell. In 1993, Mas Selamat was sent to Afghanistan for training and in 1998, studied the Taliban system of government, returning home feeling 'deeply impressed'.[6] According to Singapore intelligence authorities, Mas Selamat has met Hambali, the leader of JI, and discussed various terror plots, including the alleged plan to bomb Singapore Changi Airport.[7] He escaped from Singapore in 2001 before authorities conducted a massive operation to arrest 13 suspected JI members in December that year. He then changed his identity, assuming the name of Edy Heriyanto and obtained an Indonesian passport.


3.   Arrests: Mas Selamat was arrested in February 2003 in the island of Bintan, Indonesia, to assist Indonesian police in their investigations of several bombings in Indonesia in 2001 and 2002. Found in his possession were literature on bomb-making and the virtue of suicide. He was jailed for 18 months in 2003 for immigration offences.[2] During this period of imprisonment, he broke his left leg in a botched attempt to escape when he jumped from a high floor, resulting in him walking with a permanent limp.[8] On 20 January, 2006, Mas Selamat was arrested by Indonesian anti-terror squads in Java and upon Singapore's request, deported on 3 February 2006,[9] where he was detained in Singapore's Whitley Road Detention Centre under the Internal Security Act without trial.[10]


4.   Escape in February 2008: At 4.05pm on Wednesday, 27 February 2008, Mas Selamat escaped from the Internal Security Department's Whitley Road Detention Centre through an unsecured bathroom window when he was allowed to go to the toilet before a meeting with his family at the Family Visit Room.[11] A massive manhunt was deployed in the vicinity of the area immediately after the escape, but was wound down 17 hours later when no success was in sight. Mas Selamat had, probably by then, used an improvised flotation device to cross the Straits of Johor into Malaysia.[12] Following a request from Singapore, an urgent worldwide security alert was issued by INTERPOL to each of its 186 National Central Bureaus.[13] On 21 July 2008, two private individuals who requested anonymity approached the Home Affairs Ministry with an offer of a SGD$1 million cash reward for information leading to the apprehension of Mas Selamat.[14] Response from certain sectors of the public has been sharply critical.[15] Agence France-Presse noted how "the escape from custody of a limping Islamist extremist suspect has led to scorn on the Template:Wb".[16]

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