Senior police officers believe that escaped rapist Benny Sela is currently in the Sharon region, based on what they consider credible testimony from several people who claim to have seen him.

Police officials explained that all of these witnesses' reports included details about Sela's behavior and speech that the police know to be true, but which are not known to the general public. As a result, police will concentrate their manhunt in this area - though one senior officer admitted that the rapist could well have left it by now.

The police also recently obtained their first intelligence information about Sela since the rapist escaped nine days ago. This information is not sufficient to pinpoint Sela's location, police officials said, but it does increase the prospects of catching him.

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To date, some 2,000 policemen have been participating in the hunt for Sela, at a cost of about NIS 100,000 per day. Major General David Tzur, commander of the police's Tel Aviv District, has said in closed meetings over the last few days that about a third of this manpower would be sufficient, but that Police Commissioner Moshe Karadi had ordered him to use every available individual to show the public that the police were taking the manhunt seriously and thereby help restore the public's faith.

The Yaron Committee continued its investigation into Sela's escape on Friday by hearing testimony from Tzur about the various police failures that enabled the prisoner to flee, and about the generally poor performance of the Tel Aviv District's prisoner escort service, which has allowed four prisoners to escape in the last year. Karadi and Israel Prisons Service Commissioner Ya'akov Ganot will testify before the committee on Sunday or Tuesday.

Karadi: Ease with which rapist Sela escaped 'embarrassing'

Earlier Saturday, Karadi said that despite ongoing searches, police do not know Sela's whereabouts. In an interview with Israel Radio, Karadi said "police are conducting searches in places where he is likely to be located."

Karadi added that "it was embarrassing to see the intolerable ease with which Sela was able to flee from the police escorting him."

"This is an unpleasant failure," he said.

Karadi announced Friday that the number of police forces taking part in the Tel Aviv hunt for escaped serial rapist Benny Sela will not change in the coming days.

Karadi also said that in addition to the police forces, thousands of volunteers would join the manhunt over the weekend. Last week, Tel Aviv police were reinforced with 1,000 police officers from other districts.