KOTA KINABALU: Police in Tawau are keeping a close watch on the hometown of security guard Ardi Hamzah, who is wanted for the murder of a bank officer in Subang Jaya last Wednesday.

Tawau police chief Asst Comm Awang Besar Dullah said they were also trying to see if the man had any relatives in the Tawau district, which is just half an hour away from Indonesia’s Kalimanatan province by boat.

“So far there is no indication that he has come towards Sabah based on flight records from peninsular Malaysia,” he said, adding that they believed that the wanted man was still hiding in West Malaysia.

He said the house address in his fake identity card – Jalan Apas Batu 2, No 70, Tawau – did not exist.

“At the moment, we are still investigating and keeping a close watch out for him as he might try to flee the country from Tawau,” he added.

According to residents in the Batu 2 area, Ardi is not a resident in the area and they have never seen him or known anyone named Ardi Hamzah.

“I don’t think there is any truth that he is from our area. The particulars may be all false,” said a resident who only wanted to be known as Ali.

He also said that houses in their area had the alphabet ‘x’ before the house numbers but it was missing in the address in Ardi’s MyKad.

Ardi is alleged to have gunned down Ambank’s Subang Jaya branch operations officer Norazita Abu Talib before fleeing with about RM450,000 in cash. Police have said that he was using a fake identity card.

Many Indonesians fleeing from serious crimes in Sabah usually head to Tawau as it is easier for them to slip back into Indonesia via Pulau Sebatik, an island shared by Malaysia and Indonesia.

– THE STAR