Who And Where Is Mas Selamat Kastari?
Mas Selamat bin Kastari is a 47-year-old Indonesian-born Singaporean fugitive and used to work as a bus mechanic. Born on January 23, 1961 in Kendal, Central Java, he is married with five children.
Mas Selamat joined the Singapore Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) cell in 1992 and was sent to Afghanistan for training a year later. In 1998, he studied the Taleban system of government and has met Hambali (Riduan Isamuddin), the leader of JI.
Mas Selamat fled Singapore on December 2001 following the Internal Security Department (ISD) security operation against the JI where 13 suspected JI members were arrested. He plotted to crash an aeroplane from Bangkok into Changi Airport.
Mas Selamat was also jailed in Indonesia Riau province in 2003 for 18 months on immigration charges. He was however not handed over to Singapore upon his release, since Indonesia and Singapore do not yet have an extradition treaty. During this period of imprisonment, he broke his left leg in a botched attempt to escape when he jumped from a high floor.
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