All donations meant to help secure the release of the four Sarawakian hostages previously held by the Abu Sayyaf have already been handed to the police, say their next of kin.

This comes after the families came under fire from the public, who questioned the money’s whereabouts since the police claimed no ransom was paid for the hostages' release.

“We handed 12 Hong Leong Bank cheques which were kept in a bag to the Special Branch in Sandakan between 4pm and 6pm on May 24.

“All the money raised had been handed to them and we did not keep a single sen,” The Star quoted Lau Cheng Kiong as saying.

He is the uncle of one of the former captives, Johnny Lau Jung Hien.

The daily also quoted Bukit Aman’s Special Branch director Mohamad Fuzi Harun declining to comment on Cheng Kiong’s claims.

The four Sarawakian sailors were abducted by the Philippine-based militant group on April 1, from a tugboat off the coast of Pulau Ligitan, Sabah.

The four were Wong Teck Kang, Wong Teck Chii, Johnny Lau, and Wong Hung Sing.

The Abu Sayyaf group had reportedly demanded a ransom of RM18 million, and their families turned to members of the public for help.

Ten of them even appeared on stage at a DAP ceramah in Sibu during the Sarawak state election in April, to plead for financial help.

The captives were eventually released on June 8, but inspector-general of police Khalid Abu Bakar had reportedly denied that ransom had been paid.

A Sin Chew Daily report on June 9 said the police chief was also asked what happened to the money donated to the hostages’ families, to which Khalid reportedly said the question should be directed to the families.