Police lauded for speedy solution of crime incidents

MAYOR Celso Lobregat commended the police authorities for the speedy resolution of the grenade-throwing incident on Wednesday that also led to the solution of another crime perpetrated earlier this month in Zamboanga City.

Lobregat said the immediate arrest of the suspects and their cohorts during the follow-up operations, and the recovery of firearms, motorcycles and other gadgets used, is another proof that the authorities are doing their best to ensure the safety and protection of the residents.

He lamented, however, that the grenade-throwing incident was another example of conflicts from outside Zamboanga City. He is hoping that the target of the attack, Hadja Ferdausa Karim, will pursue and file the case in court.

Karim was driving her Nissan Navara pick-up when two men riding tandem on a motorcycle tossed two grenades into her vehicle.

Karim, who was with Hadja Farida Radja, escaped unscathed but two by-standers sustained minor injuries.

Ronaldo Dagalea, 32, a cigarette vendor, and Rodid Bejerano, 25, a passenger jeep conductor, who happened to be near Karim's vehicle at the time of the incident, sustained shrapnel wounds.

Karim's vehicle was damaged, although only one of the two grenades exploded.

The motorcycle-riding suspects identified as Gary Candido, 20, and Albert Perez, 22, were nabbed by policemen.

The arrest of Candido and Perez also led to the arrest of nine other suspects in a follow-up operation in Logoy Grande, Talon-Talon village, five kilometers east of the city.

The police identified them as Aldasser Muallam, 24, Sherman Jailani, 22, Muamar Muallam, 33, Vincent Carrasco, Jul-Amin Abdula, 22, Jinul Uddin, ohammad Alkhalidz Amisali, 20, Lindin Uddin, 18, and Kent Ramos.

Muallam, (Aldasser), who is a native of Sulu, is an elected kagawad in one of the nine barangays in the municipality of Kalingalan Caluang, Sulu, the police said.

The firearms and motorcycles recovered from the suspects' possession were believed to have been used in other crime incidents in Zamboanga City, the police added.

Farouk Alfad, a vice-mayoralty candidate in Tabuan Lasa town, Basilan province, identified two of the 11 arrested suspects as those who attempted to kill him in a car by-pass shooting last October 2 in the city.

Alfad was driving his sports utility vehicle en route to the city proper coming from a fitness gym when fired upon by two men riding tandem on a motorcycle around 12:45 p.m. of October 2 in Barangay Canelar.

Alfad sustained bruises in his right arm while his cousin, Hershed Alfad, who was with him during the incident, was unscathed.

Lobregat challenged the police to get to the bottom of the two incidents to determine the people behind the crimes that happened in Zamboanga. (Bong Garcia)