The Ministry of Home Affairs issued a terse notice informing all that the leader of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) network here, Mas Selamat Kastari, escaped from the Whitley Road Internal Security Department’s (ISD) detention at 4.05pm today.

“Mas Selamat was the leader of the Singapore (Jemaah Islamiyah) network. He walks with a limp and is presently at large,” the Home Affairs Ministry said in a statement. “Extensive police resources have been deployed to track him down.”

A massive manhunt involving thousands of policemen, Gurkhas and Special Operations Command officers are is now underway island-wide to nab the man who allegedly plotted to crash a plane into Changi Airport.

This is serious news indeed. Consider this.

Mas Selamat has since been held in custody under Singapore’s Internal Security Act, which allows indefinite detention without trial.

I cannot fathom how Mr Mas Selamat managed to escape from the detention centre when he had Gurkha guards watching him. After all, Singapore is well known for having one of the tightest security systems in the world. This is the second major security breach within the last one year. Remember the previous incident involving an NSF, Dave Teo, who got out of his camp with an armed rifle and was caught in Cathay Orchard Cineleisure?

Well well…Needless to say, the escapade immediately became worthy news for worldwide dailies to pick it up.

There are many theories on why this could have happened. Were the guards sleeping? Were there some part-time JI members within ISD? Did Mas Selamat get divine powers allowing him to foam a cloak of invisibility? Questions, questions and more questions. But the answers (if any at all) are far and few.

The immediate task now is to apprehend him quickly. The questioning can come later. It may take a while longer than Dave Teo considering the type of specialised training he has undergone.

For now, a climate of fear has descended on sunny island Singapore. Seeing so many police cars and men in blue is a surreal experience. Worse, Mas Selamat may be anywhere outside the Whitley perimeter now. And he may be armed.

If you see him (or anyone who resembles him as he must have changed his appearance by now), you know what to do. Call the police at 999.

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