Sultan Kudarat village chair, 2 men killed in police anti-drug ops
Local News • 15:20 PM Sun May 6, 2018
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By:
Edwin O. Fernandez
LAMBAYONG, Sultan Kudarat -- A sub-commander
of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and two of his subordinates were killed in
a police law enforcement operations in a remote village here before dawn
Saturday.
Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, the regional director
for police in the SOCCSKSARGEN region, said joint operatives of Regional Drug
Enforcement Unit and Lambayong police backed by military were to serve search
warrants against village chair Yusop Mukalam of Barangay Tambak, Village Chairman
Musaid Kandatu of Barangay Pimbalayan, Randy Kamid, a commander of rebel group,
Musaid Kindatu and Jaime Silongan, all in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat.
The operation was launched at 2:15 a.m. in separate
villages where the suspects reside.
Armed by the search warrants issued by Judge
Alandrex Betoya of Regional Trial Court Branch 16 in Kabacan, North Cotabato,
the law enforcers first swooped down on the house of Silongan in Barangay
Tambak but he immediately fired at lawmen, triggering a shootout.
Silongan was critically injured and was rushed to a
hospital but died along the way. Seized from him were one Ingram
sub-machinegun, five sachets of shabu valued at P25,000.
Morales said another police unit went to the house
of Barangay Tambak chair Mukalam but he opened fire on approaching lawmen who
returned fire, wounding the official. He
was rushed by police to a hospital in Poblacion Lambayong but he died along the
way.
Morales said the raiding team seized one cal. 45
pistol, seven sachets of shabu valued at P35,000, weighing scale and shabu
paraphernalia.
In the house of Randy Kamid, a sub-commander of Moro
Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), gunfire also met law enforcers when he opened
fire on approaching lawmen using his cal. 38 revolver, triggering a brief
firefight.
Injured, Kamid was rushed by police to a hospital
but he was declared dead on arrival. Seized from his house was a cal. 38
revolver, 12 sachets of shabu with estimated value of P70,000 and shabu
paraphernalia.
Morales said another village chairperson, Musaid
Kindatu of Barangay Pimbalayan was arrested and did not resist arrest.
Recovered from him was Glock 17 magazine assembly, a
fragmentation grenade, a rifle grenade, several ammunition and two-way radio
sets.
Stressing it was a legitimate police and
anti-narcotics operations, Morales said the operation was witnessed by other
local officials, in the two villages where the operations were conducted.