COTABATO CITY – Police have arrested one of the two suspects in the twin grenade attacks in Lambayong, Sultan Kudarat, an official said Tuesday.
Senior Supt. James Gulmatico, Sultan Kudarat police director, declined to name the arrested suspect in Saturday’s grenade-throwing incidents at the house of Lambayong Mayor Ramon Abalos and the Lambayong police office pending further investigation.
The grenade blast at the mayor’s house left his brother, Lambayong Councilor Carlos Abalos and a cousin, Richard, wounded. As the suspects fled, they also lobbed a grenade at the nearby Lambayong police office, hurting no one.
Gulmatico said the suspect was nabbed by a joint team of Lambayong policemen and personnel of the Army’s First Mechanized Infantry Battalion few hours after the blasts.
He said the suspect was identified by several witnesses, who claimed to have seen him – along with a companion – tossing a hand grenade at the mayor’s residence at about 7 a.m. last Saturday, July 28.
Police also recovered the motorbike suspected to have been used by the two grenade suspects.
“The two victims at the mayor’s house are now out of the hospital,” Gulmatico said.
Gulmatico said the Islamic State-linked Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters remain as principal suspects in the grenade attacks. Lambayong town with a population of about 80,000 inhabitants is adjacent to Maguindanao where the BIFF operates.
“Manhunt is still going on for the other suspect,” he said. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
