Tuesday, September 11, 2007 Suspected bomber nabbed in Gensan By Malu Cadelina Manar
KIDAPAWAN CITY -- A person suspected of masterminding several bombing incidents in Central Mindanao was arrested by police intelligence agents at a public terminal in General Santos City on Saturday.
Chief Superintendent Felizardo Serapio, regional police chief, identified the suspect as Mike Pasaque Gante, of Barangay Genibon in Ampatuan, Maguindanao.
Gante, together with a companion identified only as Basit, were about to deliver an improvised explosive device (IED) to a mall in General Santos City when intelligence operatives intercepted them at the city's overland terminal.
The suspects were aboard a passenger bus from Cotabato City. Basit, believed to be one of the leaders of the group out to sow terror in southwest Mindanao, eluded arrest.
Senior Inspector Maximo Sebastian of the Bomb Data Center of the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) in central Mindanao led the team who arrested Gante.
They recovered from the suspect the explosive device, which was placed inside a blue colored bag.
The device, according to Sebastian, was made of one round of 81 mm mortar with several concrete nails, one round of ammunition for rifle grenade, and one unit Nokia 3315 cellular phone.
The plan was to bomb a mall in General Santos City, according to intelligence operatives.
Serapio said Gante's arrest was a product of months of surveillance and monitoring conducted by several police intelligence units.
"Their efforts paid off when they arrested their target," said Serapio.
Gante, according to the spokesman of the Police Regional Office in Central Mindanao, is facing several bombing cases that occurred in many key cities in Mindanao, including Cotabato, General Santos, Koronadal, and Kidapawan.
Gante is presently under custody of RID-Central Mindanao while appropriate charges are being prepared for filing in court.
