KUALA LUMPUR, May 25 — The duo grabbed from a seaside restaurant in Sandakan, Sabah, on May 14 are believed to be safe, but closely guarded by dozens of gunmen from terror-linked groups in Jolo, southern Philippine, an activist said.

Anti-kidnapping activist Prof Octavio Dinampo was quoted in The Star Online as saying that according to information received, the two — Thien Nyuk Fun and Bernard Then Ted Fun landed in the Talipao municipality on May 15 before they were transferred to neighbouring Indanan.

“They are kept under close watch and are safe,” the activist was quoted saying, before adding that the group holding the two hostages was under the command of Alhabsi Misaya.

Apart from the Alhabsi group, the captives are also under the watch of those led by “Harimau Ali”, and other members of a breakaway faction of the Moro National Liberation Front, Octavio reportedly said.

According to Sabah police, the two captives are kept constantly on the move to avoid detection by the Philippine authorities.

During peak dinner period on May 14, a group of gunmen stormed a popular seaside restaurant in Sandakan and made off with Thien, the 50-year-old restaurant manager and 39-year-old Then, an electronic consultant from Kuala Lumpur working in Cambodia.

Sabah police commissioner Datuk Jalaluddin Abdul Rahman later said that the notorious Muktadil brothers, who are suspected to be behind the kidnapping, may have had some inside help from an employee of Thien’s restaurant.

The Muktadil brothers’ gang — lead by brothers Nilson and Adzmil — are believed to be behind several kidnappings in Sabah’s porous east coast, including the abductions of China tourist Gao Huayun, 29, and Filipino worker Marcy Dayawan, 40.

Police later confirmed that kidnappers had demanded a “large ransom” for Then and Thien’s release.