The man, who only wished to be known as Pak Sabar, said he had actually allowed his son-in-law Johar Hassan and daughter Riza to live in the house in Kampung Tawakal, Skudai.
“I used to go back once a month to collect fruits and coffee beans from our orchard.
“I would even cut grass sometimes if I feel well enough, but I never once saw Mas Selamat there,” he said when met at his house in Kempas Permatang yesterday.
Johar has since been detained with Mas Selamat under the Internal Security Act along with another man, believed to be Abdul Matin.
Pak Sabar said he knew that Johar had allowed a friend to live in the house but did know who he was until the arrests.
He said he also did not believe that Mas Selamat paid any rental to live in the house as Johar only lived there occasionally with his family and that he was responsible for looking after another house in Bandar Baru Uda.
However, Pak Sabar said since his son-in-law’s arrest, acquaintances had started looking askance at the family, causing them stress and worry.
“Since then, it has been hard for us. People look at us differently and assume we are linked to terrorists,” he said, insisting that he and his family were innocent.
Pak Sabar said Johar’s arrest had also badly affected Riza, who was often distracted and had left her four children under his care while she went off to Kuala Lumpur to be with her sister.
Riza, he claimed, had met her husband twice since his arrest but did not say where.
Johar, said Pak Sabar, was too busy with his construction business to have the time to get involved in Jemaah Islamiah activities.
Puteri Wangsa assemblyman Datuk Abdul Halim Suleiman said it was shocking that a wanted and dangerous fugitive could live for months in a village of less than 100 people without arousing suspicion.
He also urged the marine police to step up patrols along the coastline.
Mas Selamat’s hideout was located in Abdul Halim’s constituency.
i guess you can't blame him, in a kampung with population about 100, their kampung might even don't have TV
