NBI closing in on van attackers

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) said yesterday it was closing in on members of a group that owned up to the torching of an ABS-CBN broadcast van in Mandaluyong City last Tuesday.

Sources said agents of the NBI-Anti Fraud and Computer Crime Division (AFCCD) are currently verifying information that could lead to identification of those involved in the attack on the outside broadcast van.

"If the information turns up positive, it would be another major breakthrough in the case. But just like other information we receive, we have to evaluate every detail to ensure the information we have is genuine," said the source.

Agents of the NBI-AFCCD, under lawyer Efren Meneses, are working round-the-clock to identify six members of the group responsible for lobbing a molotov bomb at the OB van of ABS-CBN. The van, worth P35 million, was destroyed beyond repair.

Authorities have established the description of the person who sent an e-mail message to the GMA-7 network and owned up to the attack, which was in protest over alleged suppression of truth and biased reporting by ABS-CBN during the May 2004 presidential elections.

NBI agents, in coordination with elements of the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection group (PNP-CIDG), is trying to trace the author of the e-mail, described to be "student-type" of medium built, about 5’8" to 5’10" tall.

"If we get the author of the e-mail, we can easily get those who lobbed the molotov at the OB van as the e-mail address of the author was created only a few hours after the attack, indicating a clear connection between the two incidents," Meneses said earlier.

The e-mail sent to GMA-7 network came from the address [email protected], which was created a few hours after the attack on the vehicle.