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Tuesday, September 02, 2003
3 cops, 2 others slain in foiled kidnapping
By Edwin G. Espejo
GENERAL SANTOS -- Three policemen and two security guards were killed when heavily armed men barged into the residence of a wealthy businessman in Tacurong City and tried to abduct him.
Police in Tacurong said businessman Roberto Ang, target of the foiled kidnapping, was slightly wounded during the ensuing shootout inside his residential compound when security guards and family members warded off the attackers.
Police Regional Office (PRO) 12 director Chief Supt. Manuel Raval said at least 10 heavily armed men were involved in the attack.
Raval said the suspects, using a commandeered public utility jeep, stormed the house of Ang and started firing their guns at around 9 a.m. Monday morning.
But security guards of Ang, including the two of the slain policemen who were providing security to the businessman, fired back at the gunmen, prompting them to withdraw from the area.
The police and military were immediately alerted to the incident and ordered to set up checkpoints all over Sultan Kudarat.
At around 11 a.m., barely two hours after the attack on Ang's residence, the suspects were flagged down in a police checkpoint in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat.
The unsuspecting policemen were, however, caught by surprise when the suspects met them with a hail of bullets.
A certain SPO4 Hadji Bansil was slain in the ensuing firefight.
Raval said the gunmen managed to flee from the police roadblock toward the direction of Sultan sa Baronguis in Maguindanao province.
The PRO 12 director told Sun.Star he already ordered his men to pursue the gunmen, adding many in the group were wounded.
Raval is now personally directing the manhunt operation against the suspected kidnappers.
He said they still could not establish the identities of the gunmen but he believed some renegade Moro rebels could be behind the kidnapping attempt.
He also did not rule out the possibility that the Pentagon kidnap for ransom group was behind the bloody incident.
Only last week, PRO 12 officials here gave the local press a briefing and warned that several kidnap for ransom groups were planning to stage kidnapping activities all over Central Mindanao. Sun.Star General Santos
(September 2, 2003 issue)
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