PAGALUNGAN, Maguindanao -- Police reported Thursday the death of the leader of armed men who attacked North Cotabato District Jail (NCDJ) in Kidapawan City early this year and freed 157 inmates.
Senior Supt. Agustin Tello, Maguinanao police provincial director, said unidentified gunmen shot dead Wednesday night in a remote village here Ismael Nasser Omar, also known as “Commander Derby.”
Omar is a former NCDJ inmate detained for kidnapping, murder and frustrated murder charges, but escaped last year and led the attack on January 4 this year to free Melvin Casangyao, a suspected big time druglord in North Cotabato.
Omar carries a P1 million reward for his arrest offered by North Cotabato provincial government.
Casangyao, a suspected big time drug trafficker in North Cotabato, allegedly paid Omar P2 million to spring him out of jail located in Barangay Amas, Kidapawan City.
The daring “rescue” of Casangyao also resulted in the escape of 157 other inmates, mostly high profile detainees.
“He died from multiple gunshot wounds in the early evening shooting,” Tello said, quoting report from Pagalungan municipal police office.
Tello said Omar could have been killed by rival armed group over illegal drugs.
Tello said Omar was in his home in Barangay Kilangan in Pagalungan, Maguindanao when gunmen armed with assault rifles shot him through the windows.
Army and police investigators learned that after Casangyao was rescued, he paid Omar the P2 million as promised and a Cal. 50 machinegun. Few months later, Casangyao was rearrested in Kidapawan City.
Manhunt continues for more than 80 other inmates who escaped from the jail facility last January.(PNA)
