Police have detained a Dayak Selako after a logging company lodged a report that its two trucks had been set alight and destroyed in Sematan, about 100km from Kuching.

Lundu district deputy police chief Chief Inspector Lawrence Gantin today confirmed that the individual - who chairs the NCR land action committee - has been remanded for 13 days to assist with investigations but is not a suspect.

Dataran Hijau Sdn Bhd, the logging company, had also lodged a report two days earlier that one of its trucks had been set alight by unknown person(s) in the logging area.

Villagers of Kampung Sebako and two other Dayak Selako villages have complained that illegal logging is affecting their water catchment areas and that there has been no action on their complaints to the police.

Sarawak Dayak Iban Association secretary-general Nicholas Munjah told malaysiakini that the company has been carrying out logging in the area for about two years.

"The locals have been concerned about illegal logging on native customary rights land and the last straw was where logging started within the water catchment areas," he said.

About 100 villagers, infuriated by the remand order, went to the Lundu police station to demand an explanation for the remand order.

Officers with a non-governmental organisation have met an administrative officer in Lundu who confirmed the 13-day remand order was issued on Sunday. They and the villagers are trying to press the police to release the committee head.