Elusive "Grass Cutter" killed by lawmen in Maguindanao
MAGUINDANAO --- A combined Army-police team killed the elusive large-scale drug trafficker “Grass Cutter” in a brief encounter in Datu Paglas town Friday.
"Grass Cutter," whose name was Abdulatip Pendaliday, was implicated in the murder of more than 30 people and tagged in a series of cattle and motorcycle heists in recent months.
He thrice eluded joint military-police dragnets in the past three years.
"Grass Cutter" died on the spot from multiple gunshot wounds sustained in a gunfight with soldiers and policemen in Barangay Lipao in Datu Paglas, Maguindanao on Friday morning
Local leaders in towns where Grass Cutter was said to have distributed shabu said he shared fractions of his earnings from selling illegal drugs and marijuana to the outlawed Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters.
Brig. Gen. Roy Galido, commander of the Army’s 601st Brigade, said the encounter that resulted in the death of Grass Cutter erupted when he and his companions attacked patrolling soldiers and policemen out to check on his reported presence in Barangay Lipao.
His companions hurriedly escaped when Grass Cutter was felled with automatic gunfire by advancing soldiers.
They left behind four .45 caliber pistols, a .38 caliber revolver and a fragmentation grenade as they fled in haste.
Police investigators also found in the trouser pockets of Grass Cutter shabu in sealed sachets.
Galido has ordered Army units in Datu Paglas and in nearby towns to guard against possible retaliations by local terror groups that coddled Grass Cutter in exchange for money.