Suspect in 2017 murder of `doctor to the barrio’ arrested
COTABATO CITY --- The police finally arrested Saturday the suspect in the 2017 murder in Lanao del Norte of a physician who served isolated impoverished areas in the province.
Mohammad Nabel Langi Banding, 39, who allegedly shot dead on March 1, 2017 Dreyfuss Perlas, a government “doctor to the barrio,’ in a gun attack in Kapatagan, Lanao del Norte is now detained.
His arrest in Barangay Abaga in Lala town in Lanao del Norte was confirmed by the Police Regional Office-10.
The operation that led to his arrest right in his hideout in Barangay Abaga was a joint initiative of the Lanao del Norte Provincial Police Office and PRO-10 based in Cagayan de Oro City.
In a statement Monday, the Lanao del Norte Provincial Police said Banding yielded peacefully when one from the team dispatched to locate him in Barangay Abaga showed him a warrant for his arrest from the Regional Trial Court Branch 21 in the province.
The warrant, dated May 18, 2017, was signed by Judge Alberto Quinto.
The police repeatedly tried but failed to corner the elusive Banding in a series of operations early on.
His relatives reportedly helped the police find him in Lala and even led him to his exact location in the municipality.