KOTA KINABALU, MALAYSIA: A Universiti Malaysia Sabah (UMS) student was abducted and assaulted in an overnight terror ride from the city here to interior Tambunan.

The 22-year-old Sarawak girl's ordeal sent shockwaves among UMS students staying in nearby Kingfisher Park from where she was abducted at about 5.40pm on Tuesday.

The student had just been dropped off by friends near a row of shops when two men in a blue Kancil grabbed her and bundled her into the car.

One of her friends saw the incident and jotted down the Kancil number as it sped off. City police were notified and an alert was issued to their counterparts in surrounding districts.

A police patrol car spotted the Kancil at 6am yesterday, almost 12 hours after the abduction, some 100km away along the Tambunan-Keningau road.

A 26km chase ensued as the Kancil headed back towards Kota Kinabalu.

As the chase neared Kampung Rompon, police fired several shots at the rear tyres of the abductors? car, which overturned and landed in a ditch. Two men were seen fleeing the vehicle.

The terrified girl was found huddled in the backseat. She had bruises on her face and body.

The police rushed her to the nearest hospital in interior Keningau town about 60km away from Tambunan.

One of the two men who fled from the Kancil approached the Kampung Rompon villagers for help at about 11am yesterday, with bloodstains all over his body and an injured arm.

The villagers alerted the police who were still at the scene.

Police promptly arrested the 20-year-old man from the northern Kota Belud district and mounted a massive manhunt for the suspect?s partner.

The man they are looking for is believed to be a 29-year-old from Membakut district in the west coast of Sabah.

Police are still trying to determine the motive for the abduction.