MMEA officer loses left eyesight

TAWAU: The Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) team involved in a shootout with suspected criminals on a boat had wanted to offer help after it appeared aground. But what they did not expect was the good deed being returned with four gunshots.

Recalling the incident, MMEA Petty Officer Zainal Abad Komel said it happened very fast and they did not expect criminals to be on board the boat.

“Usually at 8.30am, fishermen will head home. Furthermore, the location in front of Kampung Pangi is usually filled with villagers returning from fishing… the cargo on board the boat was covered with canvas.

“As I got near the boat, I saw the suspect aiming a pistol right at my face and two shots were fired. But I managed to turn my face away while pulling on the throttle to speed away,” he said when met by BK here yesterday.

The 45-year-old captain of MMEA vessel Banggi 48 said while he managed to evade the first shot, the second shot hit him below his left eye and blood started gushing out.

It was the first time Zainal had faced such an incident in his 19 years of service with the agency, but this would not stop him from protecting the people and the country.

“This incident will not dampen my spirit. If I am all right today, I want to get back to work and track them down,” he said, adding that he has come to terms with the injury to his left eye.

Zainal, who is from Negri Sembilan, is now permanently blind in his left eye.

Another MMEA officer, Leading Rate Prayrie De Cuella Jimin, 35, injured both hands in the Sunday morning shootout in the waters off Kunak, about 0.2 nautical miles northwest of Kampung Pangi.

He said only the boat’s skipper was holding a weapon and fired four shots at the MMEA boat.

“The boat tried to speed away, but I also fired five shots towards it. I saw two people collapse, but I am not sure if they were hit or trying to avoid being hit.

“After I fired the shots, the suspects’ boat stopped for about two minutes before taking off again,” he said, adding that they could not give chase due to the low tide.

Zainal and Prayrie, whose condition was stable, were among six people in the team on duty under Ops Khas Pagar Laut.

In Lahad Datu, MMEA director-general Maritime Admiral Datuk Hamid Mohd Amin said the district hospital confirmed that Zainal lost one side of his eye sight as the bullet hit a nerve.

“He lost one eye permanently without vision, but thank God, the right side is fine. This incident becomes very serious for us,” he told a press conference yesterday.

Admiral Hamid said the suspects involved in the shootout are believed to be members of an identified smuggling group involved in cross-border crimes in the area of Suba Duyung and Batik Parang.

He said the agency would join forces with the Eastern Sabah Security Command (Esscom) and police to hunt for the criminals.

Two ships and 21 boats from the navy and Joint Task Force 2 would also be included in the operation, he added.

“Various police units involving five patrol vessels, 26 patrol and combat boats, together with MMEA four maritime vessels as well as 15 patrol and assault boats are being mobilised from Lahad Datu to Semporna, Kunak and Tawau,” he said.

Esscom Commander Datuk Victor Sanjos said one of the suspects had been identified as a foreigner on the wanted list.

He said eyewitnesses were in the process of identifying two other gunmen.

Earlier in Kuala Lumpur, Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Razarudin Husain said Zainal had undergone a successful surgery.

“The bullet has been removed. His eye did not need to be removed despite earlier worries that a fake eye had to be inserted,” he said at the Police Training Centre here yesterday.

Razarudin said the criminals were armed and police were in the midst of confirming the weapons they used.

“The marine police will carry out patrols in addition to the operations by MMEA,” he added.