GUA MUSANG: Police have declared Kampung Kuala Koh, where several Oramg Asli from the Batek tribe died recently, a “red zone” area.
This effectively serves as a ban on entry into the village to all except those who have permission to do so.
District police chief Superintendent Mohd Taufik Maidin said the move was for the safety of not only the Orang Asli villagers, but also officers of the various government agencies as well as outsiders.
“Except for the special officers who are on duty for the operation to locate the 12 graves (of Orang Asli said to have died over the past month), others are banned from entering the area.
“The agencies that are allowed to be in the area include the police forensic unit, members of the General Operations Force and a few others,” he said.
Taufik said strict checks would be carried out on vehicles entering the village.
Asked whether police had started the operation to locate the grave, he said the operation might not start yet due to a “certain matter”.
However, he did not disclose any information about it.
Kelantan police chief Datuk Hasanuddin Hassan visited the district police headquarters and is scheduled to have a meeting with Taufik and his officers later today.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P. Waytha Moorthy had disclosed on Sunday that 14 Batek villagers had died over the past month.
Two died of pneumonia on Sunday, but cause of death for the other 12 is not known.
Hasanuddin said yesterday that police believe they would take time to locate the graves as the bodies were not buried in the village.
Members of the tribe are said to have taken the bodies into the jungle, some distance away from the village.
It is believed that it is their custom to not bury the dead in the village if the person had succumbed to an uncertain disease.