INVESTIGATORS are looking into personal conflicts of alleged narco-cop PO2 Melchizedek Batomalaque as a possible motive behind his death.

Police Regional Office (PRO) 7 Director Debold Sinas said the victim’s murder may have been perpetrated by his former associates in the illegal drug trade.

He said they have yet to identify the two gunmen who attacked the victim in Barangay Daanglungsod, Toledo City last Tuesday night.

The investigators have talked with Batomalaque’s family and coordinated with PRO-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, where the slain officer was last assigned. As for the police officer who hid after he learned he was about to undergo a drug test, he will be charged with the grave offense of insubordination after he was found last Wednesday.

PO3 Arvin Hernandez, a non-commissioned officer, will also face possible dismissal from service.

Hernandez told Sinas that he was afraid to undergo the drug test because he was having personal problems. He finally submitted his urine sample last Wednesday.

Meanwhile, Sinas forced SPO2 Vicente Gila Jr. of Consolacion Police Station to take a leave of absence after the latter’s arrest. Gila, who tested negative of drug use, was caught in entrapment inside a mall in Mandaue City after he allegedly asked for P10,000 in exchange for a lost cellphone owned by John Vincent Gonzaga Rafols, a pension house manager.

He was released from detention after the victim did not file a complaint yesterday, but he will face an administrative case. (KAL)