When Mas Selamat, head of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror network fled the Internal Security Department’s Whitley Road Detention Centre on 27 Feb 08, it made headline news. I find this whole saga inconceivable and i’m sure many people felt the same way. How can a 47 year-old man with a limp escape from a well-policed prison compound?
Putting that aside, how did the fugitive escape capture for more than 3 days? We’re talking about an island with a population density of 6,369 people per square km. It’s becoming more probable that this escape is not an opportunistic breakout. It was planned in advance and so Mas Selamat might have known something about the area surrounding the centre. With this assumption, i’ve formulated my own theory as to his escape route.
Most unlikely: south to PIE and beyond
So far, the police have focused on the area (click on both photos) south of the Pan-Island Expressway (PIE) because this is supposedly where he was last seen. They have since expanded their search to the west along PIE.
If i’m Mas Selamat, fresh out of the detention centre, my first instinct has to be avoiding any human contact especially since i’ve a noticeable limp. I’ll thus avoid all inhabited areas such as roads and houses. Where to go next? I’ll avoid going south as that means crossing PIE in broad daylight (4pm). Chances are high that some motorists will see me. Moreover although Mas Selamat may not know it, to the south are populated areas (Bukit Timah and Dunearn area). Even if he reached the PIE, he’s quite likely to skirt to the east or west instead of crossing it.
Just as unlikely: east to Toa Payoh
Mas Selamat may not have known about the old Police Academy along Mount Pleasant Road. This area is bounded to the south by PIE and to the east by the busy Thomson Road. Beyond that is the heavily build-up Toa Payoh residential estate. If he had run in that direction initially, just the sights of the buildings, open fields and roads would have dissuaded him from continuing.
More likely: west towards Bukit Batok and Bukit Panjang
The area to the west of the detention centre is made up of forests and private houses. It would have seemed attractive to him as he runs out of the compound. There are no main roads until he reaches Adam and Lornie Roads. This is a very likely route as he can track his where-abouts by running parallel to the PIE. Once he gets across Adam/Lornie road, it’s basically forests all the way to Bukit Panjang and beyond.
Most likely: north-west or north of Whitley Road Detention Centre
This is the most likely route. If i’m a fugitive, i’ll follow a simple rule: head straight into the bushes and avoid all roads / houses.
No houses/roads = no human contact = no witness = higher chance of escape.
That means west along PIE or better still north or north-west towards the 163-hectare Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
I’ll have to negotiate Lornie Road but it’s much easier than crossing PIE. If i managed to sneak into the nature reserve, the coast is basically clear all the way to the north and north-west. I can hide in the jungle indefinitely living off the land (as he was trained in Afghanistan) or trek all the way to the Seletar Expressway (SLE) and the Woodlands/Marsiling area.
I think i can safely say that anyone can walk out of the reserve along its northern boundary, or along any other less densely populated boundaries in the north-west and north-east, unnoticed. As those of you who had trained or hiked in the nature reserve would know, it’s not that diffficult to navigate through it as there are many paths to follow.
Where is Mas Selamat now?
If that was indeed his escape route, he could be anywhere in Singapore now. Or he could still be hiding out in the depths of the Bukit Timah Nature Reserve.
If it’s the former, he must have received some help from his friends. The police would do well to post surveillance on all persons with any links to him.
If it’s the latter, the nature reserve is one heck of a big jungle for hiding one person. The police can choose to blockade the entire area (PIE, BKE, SLE, Upper Thomson Road) and launch a search. I do not know if they have the man-power to do so even if they were to activate the military. If not, Mas Selamat can play hide-and-seek with them for a long time.
Tags: Mas Selamat
I believe that he is in indonesia, because singapore forces would be catch him in singapore.
I agree with you. Singapore is too small a place for him to hide for so long so successfully.
but if really hes in indonasia now,but de question is how he got there?sin to ind nid to cross sea one..so hes must have a boat or someone helping.
Our Home Affairs is not doing a good job!!!
If he’s outside Singapore – which i think is quite likely, he must have gotten some help locally. It’s amazing that he managed to avoid detection for so long. I may write a post about this.
I think tat he is in maslaysia coz he can swim across the sea…..