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6 nabbed in joint Army, police operation in NoCot

By Edwin Fernandez

September 11, 2019, 1:05 pm

<p><strong>ARRESTED.</strong> A team of military and police personnel arrested Wednesday (Sept. 11) six persons believed to be members of a gun-for-hire and carnapping syndicate during a predawn raid in Barangay Inug-ug, Pikit, North Cotabato. Six high-powered firearms, grenades, and bladed weapons (inset) were also seized from the suspects, police said. <em><strong>(Photo courtesy of 6ID)</strong></em></p>

ARRESTED. A team of military and police personnel arrested Wednesday (Sept. 11) six persons believed to be members of a gun-for-hire and carnapping syndicate during a predawn raid in Barangay Inug-ug, Pikit, North Cotabato. Six high-powered firearms, grenades, and bladed weapons (inset) were also seized from the suspects, police said. (Photo courtesy of 6ID)

CAMP SIONGCO, Maguindanao – Military and police authorities arrested Wednesday six suspected members of carnapping-cum- gun-for-fire group during a pre-dawn law enforcement operation in Pikit, North Cotabato.

Maj. Gen. Diosdado C. Carreon, Army’s 6th Infantry Division commander, said the operating troops from Army’s 7th Infantry Battalion and police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) - North Cotabato Field Unit served search warrants against the gang in Barangay Inug-ug, Pikit town, at around 2:00 a.m.

“The gang is believed responsible for the series of murders, carnapping and highway robberies in the area,” Carreon said. Surprised by the raid, the suspects did not resist arrest.

The CIDG identified the arrested individuals as Toto Pañares 34, Ibrahim Guimalan, 33, Jonathan Batunga, 19, Ibrahim Katogan, 20, Bohari Katogan, 20, and Kus Minga, 59, all of Barangay Inug-ug.

Confiscated from the suspects were two M16 Armalite rifles, one M1 Garand rifle, a homemade .30 caliber rifle, two M19 pistols, hand grenades, bolos, knives, and ammunition, police said.

“These men belonged to armed lawless groups sowing fear among the people of Pikit and nearby towns,” Carreon, the concurrent head of the Joint Task Force Central (JTFC), said.

He added that the neutralization of the gang will help in the ongoing investigation on the increasing number of shooting incidents and other forms of criminalities in the area.

“I commend our government troops involved in the operation for their dedication in working to squeeze out criminal activities in the JTF Central area of responsibility,” the military official said. (PNA)

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