Three policemen were among four suspects detained by police to assist in the kidnap for ransom case at Kampung Silam in Lahad Datu, Sabah, recently.

Sabah CID chief Sallehhudin Abd Rahman said the suspects, aged between 26 and 33, were detained during a seven-hour operation which started at 10.30am in and around Lahad Datu, yesterday.

"The suspects were detained in separate places. Two of the policemen are corporals while the other is a constable and the fourth one is a local.

"Police also seized two Heckler & Koch MP5 submachine guns, an M16 assault rifle that belongs to the police force, two cars, four handphones and RM8,100 cash, plus clothing believed to have been used during the kidnap incident," Sallehhudin told reporters at the Sabah police headquarters in Kota Kinabalu today.

He said investigations revealed that two of the policemen were from the General Operations Force in Lahad Datu while the other worked at the Lahad Datu district police headquarters.

On Jan 6, a Suluk woman, aged 44, was kidnapped by three masked men at her house in Kampung Silam, Lahad Datu, using an unnumbered old white Ford car.

The kidnappers had demanded RM50,000 from the victim, a fishmonger.

Sallehhudin said from April 1 to end 2015, Sabah police have detained 44 individuals for kidnapping, gambling and human trafficking.

He said the crime index in Sabah had dropped from 5,219 cases in 2014 to 5,176 cases in 2015 or a 0.82 percent drop.

- Bernama