PIKIT, North Cotabato — A detainee who bolted the North Cotabato provincial jail in Kidapawan City following an attack by armed men in January this year was collared Thursday with the help of local leaders here.
Chief Insp. Romy Castañares, Pikit police chief, said Rolly Anok, one of the more than 120 inmates of North Cotabato Provincial Jail who escaped jail in January, was arrested in Barangay Poblacion after local village officials tipped off the police about his presence in the area.
The arresting officers, Castañares said, also found a handgun from Anok who did not resist arrest when accosted along the town’s commercial district.
Castañares said Anok, jailed on charges of violation of anti-drug law, will be turned over to provincial jail authorities while separate charges for violation of RA 10591 (Illegal Possession of Firearms and Explosives) are to be filed against him.
More than 100 inmates fled the provincial jail in Barangay Amas on January 5 this year after armed men sprung out detained drug lord Melvin Casangyao at the penitentiary.
The leader of the armed band was identified as Esmael Nasser alias Commander Derby whose group is involved in robbery and extortion.
Casangyao allegedly paid Nasser PhP1-million to rescue him, with another PhP1-million waiting as added payment once he was out of the jail facility.
In May, Casangyao was rearrested in Kidapawan City while police killed Nasser in an anti-drug operation in June, also in Kidapawan City. (Edwin Fernandez/PNA)
