The Story Behind the Al-Ma’unah Incident in Sauk

Many of us, especially those living in the Gerik area, may still remember the chaos that occurred due to an armed group's attempt to overthrow the government in mid-2000.

The attempt was carried out by the Al-Maunah group under the leadership of Mohamed Amin, who made the hilly area in Sauk their operational base. In this article, orangperak.com will detail what happened during that time for your information. The Al-Ma'unah Brotherhood group was a Malaysian militant terrorist organization known for their desperate act of infiltrating a Territorial Army Regiment camp at dawn on July 2, 2000, and stealing a large number of firearms from the armory. The group then established its secret base in the forest area near a village in Sauk, Perak, and was subsequently surrounded by the Malaysian Armed Forces and the Royal Malaysia Police. The group was finally defeated following an assault by the elite Gerak Khas commando unit from the Army and the elite VAT69 commando unit from the Royal Malaysia Police. The group's actual name was Persaudaraan Ilmu Dalam Al-Ma’unah, better known by the abbreviation Al-Ma’unah. The group also had a website explaining that Al-Ma’unah was an organization that delved into martial arts using internal energy and studied traditional Islamic medicine. "Ma’unah" means something extraordinary that happens to ordinary Muslims. The group claimed to have 1,000 members worldwide, including in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. This terrorist group, based in Gerik, had 20 members and was led by Mohamed Amin bin Mohamed Razali. The Al-Ma'unah group aimed to overthrow the Malaysian government. However, not all members who joined the group knew their leader's original intentions. The group included a Major from the Malaysian Army who was very knowledgeable about the ins and outs of military camp movements and where firearms were stored. The group had a very meticulous plan to infiltrate and seize firearms belonging to the armed forces. They obtained information on the weaknesses of the military camp's security system and secured three Pajero four-wheel-drive vehicles. The Pajero vehicles, said to be identical to those used by the military, were painted green and used fake registration numbers at a garage in a house in Kati, specifically to be used as the group's entry vehicles.

On the early morning of July 2, 2000, the quiet atmosphere in Gerik would eventually lead to chaos throughout Malaysia. 20 members of the Al-Maunah group boarded three Pajero vehicles and moved to Post 2 of the Kuala Rhui Camp at 2:50 AM, and then to the 304th Battalion Territorial Army Regiment Camp at 4:15 AM. They were dressed as senior military officers and pretended to conduct a surprise inspection of the 304th Battalion Territorial Army Regiment Camp at the Temenggor Dam, Gerik, Perak. They told the camp officers they were there for a surprise inspection, claiming they needed to conduct an emergency audit of all ammunition stored in the camp. Due to the various pressures exerted by Amin and his men, and convinced by the presence of three Pajero vehicles using military registration numbers starting with the letter 'Z', the soldiers at the two camps were successfully deceived. They allowed the group to enter the camp and even helped them load various types of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment, including communication gear, into the three Pajero vehicles. They successfully escaped with a large quantity of firearms and ammunition, namely 97 M16 rifles, two Steyr AUG rifles, four General Purpose Machine Guns (GPMG), six light machine guns, five M203 grenade launchers, 182 M16 magazines, eight spare barrels for general-purpose machine guns, three spare barrels for light machine guns, 26 bayonets, 9,095 rounds of 5.56mm ammunition, and 60 rounds of 40mm grenade cartridges. The 27 members then hid in the Bukit Jenalik forest, Sauk, Perak. Amin distributed all the stolen weapons to his men for training. The sound of gunfire, rarely heard by villagers, attracted the attention of the police. The group made preparations to carry out their plan, including gathering food supplies and bringing them into their base at Bukit Jenalik. The food supplies obtained were only enough for three months. They also acquired other weapons such as machetes and crossbows to carry out their mission.

A police team was then immediately deployed to surround Bukit Jenalik to block their movement. Subsequently, a number of security personnel were sent to infiltrate the Al-Ma'unah camp. However, two police officers, Sergeant Mohd Shah bin Ahmad and Detective Corporal Sanghadevan, as well as villagers Jaafar bin Puteh and a commando from the ATM Grup Gerak Khas, Trooper Matthews anak Medan, were taken hostage by Al-Ma'unah. In radio communications used by the group, they announced that they would attack Kuala Lumpur if their demands for the then-Prime Minister of Malaysia, Dato’ Seri (now Tun) Dr. Mahathir Mohamad, to resign within 24 hours were not met. Jaafar was captured while he was inspecting his durian orchard. Sergeant Mohd Shah bin Ahmad recounted that during the 4-day ordeal, the security personnel were tortured and abused. They were forced to dig trenches in the Bukit Jenalik area to serve as defensive bunkers in case their base was attacked. At night, they were tied to durian trees. During that time, Mohd Shah and Sanghadevan buried Trooper Matthews in one of the bunker trenches. Trooper Matthews was captured by Jemari bin Jusoh, and when Amin discovered Matthews' identity, Amin tortured him by shooting his leg. Amin then ordered Jemari to shoot Trooper Matthews.

On the morning of July 5, 2000, an Al-Ma'unah member, Abu Bakar bin Ismail, was shot by security forces. In retaliation, Amin and his friends returned fire. During the shootout, Sanghadevan was shot dead. Sanghadevan's body was later buried next to Trooper Matthews by Mohd Shah and Jaafar. The Al-Ma'unah group then surrendered, and the leader was said to be the mastermind behind the attempt to "launch a rebellion to overthrow the King." The Malaysian government acted to combat the Al-Ma'unah group members after giving them the opportunity to surrender and stopping any attempts to gain public support for the group's members and reintegrating them back into society. Mohamed Amin then surrendered. Before that, armed with an M16/M203 rifle, he had grabbed the collar of Lieutenant General Zaini Mohd Said, the commander of the Malaysian Army, and tried to shoot him at close range. But Lieutenant General Zaini immediately acted to deflect the barrel of Amin's weapon and ended up shooting one of the militants. Lieutenant General Zaini was later awarded the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (S.P.) medal for his bravery and contribution in ending the terrorism without regard for his own life.

Actually, two hours before the incident, ASP Abd Razak bin Mohd Yusoff had already moved to the base with 20 members of his elite 69 Komando PGK PDRM team, climbing the hill towards where the Al-Ma'unah group was camped. After securing appropriate cover for his team members, ASP Abdul Razak moved alone to infiltrate the bunker. With courage and faith, he met the leader of the Al-Ma'unah group, Mohamed Amin, himself. Thus, a discussion and 'scholarly' debate took place between ASP Abdul Razak and Amin, which lasted for 2 hours, and finally, the leader of the Al-Ma'unah group agreed to surrender. So, after Amin agreed to surrender, ASP Abdul Razak called Lieutenant General Zaini's team for the disarmament process. For his courage and wisdom in negotiating, ASP Abdul Razak was awarded the Seri Pahlawan Gagah Perkasa (S.P.) medal for his service. At that time, ASP Abdul Razak was the officer leading the anti-terrorist police paratrooper team, the 69 Komando PGK of the Royal Malaysia Police. It is estimated that three people were killed before the group surrendered. Detective Corporal R. Sanghadevan from the PDRM Special Branch was murdered; some claim he was killed during the siege by 59 police and military personnel. The militant terrorists also murdered a commando, Trooper Mathew anak Medan from the ATM Grup Gerak Khas, who was shot dead by Jemari Jusoh. All of them were tortured before being killed. The third person killed was a member of the group who was shot dead when he refused to surrender.

Mohamed Amin also sent his friends to bomb the Anchor and Carlsberg breweries in Petaling Jaya near Kuala Lumpur and a Hindu temple in Batu Caves. The attacks caused only minor damage. The group members, Shahidi and Khairul Anuar, were then ordered to bomb the Carlsberg factory on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur with the grenade launcher weapon seized from the military camp. Mohamed Amin and his group members were brought to justice and charged with "waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong," and he became the first Malaysian to be charged and found guilty of that offense. Mohamed Amin and his two top lieutenants, Zahit Muslim (a former VAT-69 police commando) and Jamaluddin Darus, were sentenced to death by hanging. Meanwhile, 16 other followers were sentenced to life imprisonment.

In June 2003, the Federal Court rejected Mohamed Amin's appeal to have his sentence reduced to life imprisonment and upheld the death sentence for the offense of declaring war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong. Megat Mohamed Hanafi Ilias, Muhamad Nukhshah Bandi Che Mansor, Riduan Berahim, Azlan Abdul Ghani, Shahidi Ali, and Khairul Anuar Mohamed Ariffin were each sentenced to 10 years in prison by the High Court after being found guilty of treason. They were originally charged with waging war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, a charge that carries the death penalty or life imprisonment. However, their appeal to reduce the charge to preparing to wage war against the Yang di-Pertuan Agong, which refers to gathering members, weapons, or ammunition with the intent to wage war, was successful.

15 Al-Ma'unah followers were released from detention under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on November 24, 2003. However, their release was subject to strict conditions, including being allowed to stay only in certain districts, being required to report to the police station weekly, and being prohibited from leaving their homes from 9 PM to 6 AM the next day. Mohamed Amin Mohamed Razali, the leader of the Al-Maunah militant group, was hanged at Sungai Buloh Prison on the morning of August 4, 2006, while Zahit Muslim, Jamaluddin Darus, and Jemari Jusoh had been hanged a week earlier.