KEPALA BATAS, Jan 22 — After two years of eluding the police, two fugitives who had escaped arrest by using curry powder were finally nabbed yesterday in Jitra, Kedah.

The duo, who escaped along with seven others by blinding the police with curry powder while being transported to the Butterworth court in 2013, were successfully re-arrested separately yesterday and early this morning in separate villages in Jitra.

“The Kedah police informed us of the arrest and our Ops Kesan Gelugor team, formed to track the two fugitives, had immediately rushed there to take further action," North Seberang Perai district police chief ACP Abdul Rahman Ibrahim told a press conference here today.

Both men have multiple previous criminal records involving drugs, robbery and theft.

Abdul Rahman said Hamzani Harun, 38, was caught while he was harvesting ketum leaves in a rubber plantation in Kampung Akar Batu, while Hisham Abdul Rahman, 40, was arrested at a vacant house 10km away in Kampung Bukit Wang.

Abdul Rahman said Hamzani had noticed the police while harvesting ketum leaves and tried to escape, but the police gave chase and caught him at about 11.30am yesterday.

The police believe that Hamzani and Hisham have been going around using the nicknames Mat Blue and Sham Tok E respectively.

After arresting Hamzani, the police managed to track down Hisham and arrested him early this morning at 3.30am.

Hisham had also tried to evade arrest when the police ambushed the house where he was hiding in, leading to a brief struggle before he was subdued and handcuffed.

"We believe they have been on the run together and have been living a nomadic life moving from one place to another in the last two years," Abdul Rahman said.

Investigations also revealed the duo had hid in a neighboring country before coming back recently to hide in Kedah, he added.

Other than using nicknames for each other — Mat and Said — the duo had also tried to change their appearances by changing their hairstyles. Hisham sports a longer hairstyle while Hamzani sports a Mohawk hairstyle.

The police believe they have only started working as ketum leaves harvesters while previously, they had been doing odd jobs.

"We don't believe anyone had helped them to evade the police in these two years as even the villagers in Jitra do not know they are wanted by the police," he said.

Hamzani and Hisham are now remanded for investigation under section 223 and 224 of the Penal Code for negligence and running away from custody.

On January 7, 2013, Hamzani and Hisham along with seven others were being sent to the Butterworth court at about 9am when they blinded the escorting police with curry powder, beat them up and pushed them out the van.

The nine suspects took off with the van and later abandoned it at Kampung Padang Chempedak, Tasek Gelugor where two of the escapees were re-arrested.

Three days later, two other fugitives Mohd Fairuz Adam, 31, and Mohd Noor Mustafa, 28, were shot dead when trying to escape in a car at Kampung Padang Ibu in Bukit Mertajam.

Two days after that, Mohd Farid Akhtar, 24, was detained while he was begging for food at a shop in Kubang Semant, while Mohd Shahrimi Mohd Noor, 28, surrendered himself in Penanti.

Mohd Khairulnizam Abdul Rani, 26, was arrested in an Internet cafe in Bukit Mertajam, while Hamzani and Hisham had managed to elude arrest until now.