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Abu Sayyaf bandit killed in Zamboanga del Norte

A MOST wanted Abu Sayyaf bandit was killed in an operation conducted by agents of the Philippine National Police Anti-Kidnapping Group (PNP-AKG) in Sibuco, Zamboanga del Norte early morning yesterday, said PNP-AKG director, Brigadier General Jonnel C. Estomo.

In a report to PNP chief, General Debold M. Sinas, Estomo identified the suspect as Jupuri Dais alias ‘Jupuri Nabua,’ a member of the notorious kidnapping-for-ransom and extremist group wanted since 2016.

Estomo said members of the AKG Mindanao Field Unit headed by Lieutenant Clarence Gomeyac, joined by officers from the PNP Special Action Force, Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the local police tracked down the suspect in his hiding place in Bgy. Poblacion, Sibuco.

However, the suspect fired shots at the officers who were prompted to return fire, killing him on the spot.

Recovered from the slain suspect was a chamber-loaded caliber .45 pistol with a magazine containing four live ammunition.

Estomo said that prior to the shootout, his men were about to serve a warrant for kidnapping-for-ransom and serious illegal detention issued against the suspect by Judge Laarni Dajao of the Siocon, Zamboanga del Norte Regional Trial Court Branch 27 with no bail recommended on September 28, 2018.

The PNP-AKG director said a record check showed that the suspect used to be a member of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front before he joined an Abu Sayyaf Group sub-faction headed by Almijir Yadah.

Estomo said the suspect is wanted for his involvement in a series of kidnapping incidents in different parts of Zamboanga del Norte where he is known to have acted as a ‘spotter’ of the KFR gang.

Among his victims were Martina Yee in 2016; the Duterte couple in 2017; and the Ruda and Javier couples in 2018.

Estomo said they have received highly-reliable information that the kidnappers are plotting to abduct a project engineer and a contractor from Zamboanga. Both targets were unnamed in the report.