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A $1 MILLION cash bounty has been offered for information that will lead to Jemaah Islamiah (JI) fugitive Mas Selamat Kastari's arrest.
Two businessmen have approached the Home Affairs Ministry to put up the reward, Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng told Parliament on Monday.
The businessmen have asked to remain anonymous because they do not want their families or business interests in the region to be a target.
Mr Wong reiterated that while Police do not offer cash rewards, they will not object if private firms or individuals wish to do so.
This is not the first time a bounty for Mas Selamat has been offered.
In March, labour supply company Aasperon Manpower offered $50,000 for information leading to his capture, while Crime Library, a volunteer organsation that helps to find missing persons, offered $5,000.
The United States has offered rewards in the millions for the capture of top terrorists with links to Al-Qaeda. These include JI bombmaker Noordin Mat Top.
Mr Wong, who is Home Affairs Minister, was replying to a question from Non-constituency MP Sylvia Lim on whether the Government had received or verified any information that Mas Selamat is now in Indonesia.
Security agencies here have not received any information to confirm that Mas Selamat is hiding in Indonesia, or that he has left Singapore, he said.
'Nevertheless, we obviously cannot dismiss the possibility that Mas Selamat could have managed to escape Singapore for another country,' he told the House.
Mas Selamat, the leader of the Singapore JI network, escaped from the Whitley Road Detention Centre on Feb 27.
Mr Wong added: 'We will continue to work on all possible scenarios. Although there is no intelligence at present to substantiate it, as more time passes, the scenario of Mas Selamat being harboured by sympathisers inside or outside Singapore must logically be treated as increasingly plausible', he said.
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