Friday, October 26, 2007 Police, mayor get info on Akrho hitman
CEBU City Police Director Patrocinio Comendador confirmed getting the same information received by Mayor Tomas Osmeña that alleged fraternity gunman Aristotle “Aris” Aves enjoys protection from local officials.
But Comendador said this is still raw information that the police are validating.
The Task Force Aves, he said, is exhausting all efforts to arrest Aves and put him in jail.
Aves, an Alpha Kappa Rho (Akrho) member, has been linked to several killings, including the spate of drive-by shootings last Oct. 4 that left three people dead and four others injured.
Comendador said Osmeña’s move to raise the cash reward from P150,000 to P300,000 will encourage the public to help arrest Aves.
Comendador said the police have sufficient evidence to link Aves to the drive-by shootings last Oct. 4. But Akrho regional president Richard Buscaino earlier said it is unlikely for Aves to carry out the crime because he has been missing for the past three years.
“The result will always tell it all. Investigation is one thing, telling without facts is another thing,” Comendador said.
Like Osmeña, Comendador said, the police is not running after the organization but its member who has violated the law.
In Mandaue City, the local police does not believe a suspect in the killing of a businessman is already dead.
Mandaue City Police Office Station 1 Chief Siegfred Torribio said they are organizing volunteers in some barangays to gather information on fugitives and crime suspects in their area.
Torribio is also asking for the help of the relatives of a victim in last Monday’s shooting.
Torribio and his team are conducting a hot pursuit operation against a certain Reynan, who is reportedly a member of a fraternity.
Reynan allegedly shot twice Anecita Ortega, 57, in the back last Monday afternoon in Barangay Alang-Alang.
Ortega is in a hospital.
Torribio said that Reynan is from Dumanjug, Cebu, but is staying with his fraternity brothers in Metro Cebu.
Alang-alang is also the place where another shooting took place last Aug. 9. Businessman Benjamin Barquero was shot dead in Sitio Sudlon, reportedly the lair of the fraternity that has been tagged in various fraternity-related killings.
Intelligence
The suspect in this shooting was a certain Bradix, a member of this fraternity. He had just left a party when he met his victim. Bradix was having a fight with his girlfriend when the victim tried to intervene. Bradix shot him.
Reynan and Bradix are members of the same fraternity. They have left Sudlon after the incidents but haven’t reportedly left Cebu yet.
Police said Reynan is still in Mandaue.
They earlier received reports that Bradix was in Consolacion town and that he had been shot dead.
But Torribio received an intelligence report that Bradix is still alive.
The police have already filed a murder case against Bradix, said former Station 1 chief Abraham Ocampo.
Cebu City Police Office Theft and Robbery Section Deputy Chief Michael Bastes said in an interview that they are also monitoring Bradix, who is also reported to be involved in major crimes here. (JST/OCP)
