Cops probe mysterious death of 4 wild pig hunters in Lanao del Sur
Peace and Order • 11:00 AM Mon Dec 21, 2020
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By:
John M. Unson
LANAO DEL SUR --- Manhunt had been launched against gunmen who allegedly killed four wild pig hunters and set off improvised bomb in the forested area of Madalum, Lanao del Sur on Dec. 10, authorities here today said.
In separate statements Monday, the Lanao del Sur and Lanao del Norte provincial police offices identified the fatalities as Leo Baloro, 24, Nito Bacayan, 22, Lito Angcap, 22, and the 32-year-old Francis Alcaba, who died from severe blast injuries.
Provincial police spokesperson Major Salman Saad said the four men were residents of Bacolod town in Lanao del Norte.
There are talks spreading around Lanao del Sur, a component-province of the Bangsamoro region, purporting that one of the slain wild pig hunters may have accidentally stepped on a powerful landmine laid by members of the Dawlah Islamiya terror group holding out in forestlands in Madalum, instantly killing him and his three companions.
Police and military intelligence units are validating reports by tipsters hinting that the victims were abducted by terrorists while scouring the hinterlands in Sitio Bangko in Barangay Tongan-Tongan, Madalum, tied together and killed with an improvised explosive device set off from a distance using a mobile phone.
Brig. Gen. Samuel Rodriguez, director of the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said Monday the Lanao del Sur provincial police enlisted the help of local officials in Madalum in putting closure to the incident.