Risk Professional: More on MAS arrest

Latest developments have revealed that, far from running and hiding far from Singapore, as originally suspected, MAS Selamat (story) went less than 50km into Malaysia and found accommodation in the basement of a man and his family in a traditional village or kampung house.

Reporters from Malaysian media have crawled all over the village - almost outnumbering the residents: only 100 people live there. The location became known only when MAS's landlord, known only as "Johar." As journalists interviewed villages, a picture of MAS's life - and capture - emerged.

MAS had been arrested at the house, with several dozen armed officers bursting into the house after demanding MAS come out but he refused. In Indonesia, where MAS originates, such standoffs are common - but there the terrorists are usually heavily armed and gun battles ensue in which, almost invariably, the terrorists are killed.

Little was know about MAS - he worked in the garden, dressed in traditional Malay/Muslim robes, but did not go to the local mosque for prayers. His landlord rarely took part in village affairs, it is reported.

Locals recognised MAS from pictures shown to them by journalists - with one reportedly exclaiming that he wished he had known earlier - he would, he said, have reported MAS to claim the SGD1 million reward - an unthinkably large fortune to rural Malaysians.