BESUT, Nov 23 ― Six resistance fighters from this district who were cruelly killed during the Japanese occupation of the country in the Second World War are to be accorded a proper burial in Hulu Besut on Saturday.

They were Lubuk Kawah village chief Wan Embong Wan Zainal and his five friends, Kampung Lapan Kejur village chief Kasim Abdul Samad; Kampung Dengir village chief Husain Abdullah; Kampung Bekok village chiefOthman Mamat; Kampung Teluk village chief Ismail Ahmad and Kampung Teluk surau imam Yatim Ahmad. 

The burial will take place at the Kampung Alur Belangga cemetery in Alor Keladi, Hulu Besut after Zohor prayers on Saturday.

About 72 years ago, in 1945, these fighters were said to have been killed by the Japanese army and dumped into a pit in Kampung Kijang, Pantai Semut Api, Kota Bahru, Kelantan. 

The chairman of the Reburial of Victims Killed by the Japanese Army Programme (PENSEJAHTERA), Che Ku Abdul Rahman Che Ku Abdullah, who is a grandson of Wan Embong, said a witness of the mass murder, Ismail Kandis of Kampung Che Deris Kijang, Semut Api, Kota Bahru, had reported the matter to the families of the victims.

 "According to the witness, the six men were shot by Japanese soldiers after they were caught protesting against the Japanese Army for taking Besut residents to work in the Death Railway project in Burma (now Myanmar),” he told Bernama here today.

Another grandson of Wan Embong, Wan Abdul Ghani Wan Ibrahim, 77, said his grandfather and five friends were taken by the Japanese Army and kept in the Kota Bahru prison.

"That was the last time, the wives and relatives saw the six fighters,” he said.     

Besut MP and Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh, Hulu Besut assemblyman Nawi  Mohamad and Kuala Besut assemblyman Che Ku Zaihan Che Ku Abdul Rahman as well as 500 relatives of the fighters are expected attend the burial ceremony on Saturday. ― Bernama