Tani Yutaka
Yutaka Tani; born 6 November 1911 – died 17 March 1942, was a Japanese-born vigilante and saboteur active in British Malaya.
Biography
Tani Yutaka was born in Minami-ku, Fukuoka, and moved to Malaya with his family. After he took his education in Japan, his family returned to Malaya, where he lived at Kuala Terengganu where they worked at a shop. There, he converted to Islam after being influenced by the local Malay culture of his friends, and adopted the name Mohd Ali bin Abdullah. He also secretly married a Malay woman, but they later divorced. In 1931, when he was 20 years old, he returned to Japan for a military inspection. Although he worked for a shoe company, he missed his home and returned to Malaya.On 6 November 1933, a Chinese man killed and beheaded Tani's two sisters over the Mukden Incident. Seeking revenge against the man and his gang, he became a bandit known as Harimau. Tani attacked some Chinese gangs and British officers, and gave away what he looted from richer officials to the poor, which made him into a local hero. He was then arrested at Hat Yai and imprisoned for two months.
Before World War II, he became a secret agent for the Imperial Japanese Army, sabotaging the British war effort.