KOTA KINABALU: A man who escaped from the central lockup in Kepayan on Saturday (Dec 16) has been rearrested some 48 hours later.
Police tracked the 33-year-old suspect to a forest reserve in Tuaran, some 40km from here.
Sabah Deputy Police Commissioner Deputy Comm Datuk Shahurinain Jais said the man was found in an old hut near a seaside resort at 11.50am on Monday (Dec 18).
DCP Shahurinain thanked the public for providing information that led to the arrest.
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“He was brought to Kota Kinabalu police headquarters for the next course of action at 4pm,” he said when contacted.
A closed-circuit television (CCTV) recording of the man giving lockup personnel the slip had gone viral.
The suspect was being escorted along with two other detainees to the interrogation room at about 12.30pm on Saturday.
The man suddenly climbed over a grille gate before carefully tiptoeing on a ledge over a recreation area.
He then exited the building and climbed over a fence to get outside.
Lockup personnel gave chase but failed to apprehend the suspect, who scurried into a bushy area nearby.
DCP Shahurinain had said the man was initially under remand until Wednesday (Dec 18) for a probe under Section 431A of the Penal Code, which is for committing mischief by cutting any wire, line, post, instrument or apparatus for signalling.