A massive manhunt involving thousands of policemen and Gurkhas was launched after Mas Selamat Kastari, the terrorist who planned to crash a hijacked plane into Changi Airport, escaped from detention. Mas Selamat, 47, who took over as head of the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terror network here in 1999, fled the Internal Security Departmentís Whitley Road Detention Centre at 4.05pm.