KUALA LUMPUR: Fugitive Umno politician Datuk Seri Jamal Yunos, who was high on the police wanted list after he jumped bail in May, was arrested by the Indonesian authorities today.
Home Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin confirmed that the Sungai Besar Umno leader had been picked up by Indonesian police after Malaysian police requested for assistance early last month.
It is learnt that Jamal’s arrest came after almost a month-long surveillance and monitoring by Indonesian police, who finally moved in on him in Jakarta.
He was said to have been picked up from a hair salon in the capital while getting a haircut.
Muhyiddin in a statement today, said he was notified of the arrest at about 6.15pm.
“Malaysian police are making the necessary arrangements to bring Jamal back,” he said in a three-paragraph statement in which he also thanked Indonesian police for their cooperation and swift action.
Jamal is wanted by Malaysian authorities for several offences, including skipping bail and leaving the country using illegal means.
He had fled police custody after failing to complete his bail process.
On June 1, a warrant of arrest was issued for Jamal by the Ampang magistrate’s court for the offence of escaping or resisting police custody.
He had earlier promised to but failed to present himself to police on May 30, instead releasing a video of himself at an oil palm plantation where he claimed he was still in the country and that the arrest was an effort by certain parties to frame him.
He had also appealed to police to give him time to turn himself in but failed to do so even after a month.
Jamal had been charged with at least six offences recently, including creating a public nuisance by breaking several crates containing bottles of alcohol at the Selangor state secretariat building in October last year to protest the Better Beer Festival.
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