TAPAH: Four illegal immigrants who escaped from the Bidor Immigration Detention Depot here have been arrested so far.
They were arrested at the Kampung Sanding Orang Asli settlement near Bidor here, about 15km from the detention depot.
The immigrants, aged between 17 and 22 were arrested at about 3.30pm today with the help of Kampung Poh villagers who were also involved in the search operation.
Kampung Poh villager, Mohamad Yunus Abu said that they received a phone call from police who tipped them off on the sighting of four detainees in the village area.
Mohamad Yunus who is also a former Perak Fire and Rescue Department assistant director (operation) said he walked with his two friends through the forest for about 500 meters from the village road to reach the location where the four escapees were found.
"They were found in a bushy area and looked worn out. One of them tried to flee but we managed to catch them," he said when met by reporters at the village.
Meanwhile, another villager from Kampung Sanding, Aman Kassim said that he was among the first to see the four detainees at about 2pm and informed the matter to Tok Batin, Aziz Bah Meruang.
Aman said he felt suspicious when one of them asked to borrow his mobile phone and they also asked where the nearest town was.
"They were passing through my house and when I approached them, one of them asked to borrow my mobile phone. I didn't give it to them and at the same time, they also asked where the nearest town was.
"Feeling suspicious, I relayed the matter to Tok Batin and since last night, we also heard a rumour that hundreds of detainees at the depot had escaped," he said.
Aziz added that the arrest of four detainees from Myanmar, however, still did not give any relief to the villagers as more than 100 detainees were still at large.
"We are worried because many of them are still on the loose. This has never happened before and we are worried about the safety of our children," he said.