Suspected JI seeks DOJ investigation of charges

A Bangladesh national who was arrested Tuesday in Shariff Kabunsuan for allegedly having links with the terrorist Jemaah Islamiyah yesterday asked the Department of Justice to conduct a preliminary investigation of the charges lodged against him.

Mohammad Alfariz, 48, appeared before State Prosecutor Juan Pedro Navera accompanied by his lawyer, Rosemarie Gonzalez and informed the prosecutor that he wishes to avail of his right to a preliminary investigation. “Pending the completion of the preliminary investigation proceedings, I agree to remain under police custody,” Alfariz said in the document signed before Navera. As a consequence of the waiver and his request for the conduct of a preliminary investigation, Alfariz can no longer sue the policemen who had arrested him.

At about 2 p.m. Tuesday, agents of the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group arrested Alfariz at his cell phone repair stall in Barangay Tapayan, Municipality of Sultan Mastura. The arresting team was composed of SPO2 Marcial Gabunada, PO3 Rosil Ellevera and PO3 Nelson Hernandez and explosives expert SPO1 Joel Garcia. According to the CIDG, among the items seized from Alfariz was a backpack, a rocket propelled grenade shell with explosive filler with one non-electric blastic cap inserted; an RPG shell with fuse assembly, an alarm clock, soldering lead, 17 cut electrical wires; rolled magnetic wire, an AA battery; two pieces of 81 mm mortar with fuse assembly; eight feet of detonating cord, five cellular phones, two blasting caps, a personal computer, three SIM cards and P 3,710 in cash.

In a statement, Justice Undersecretary Ricardo Blancaflor, the spokesman of the Anti-Terrorism Council confirmed Alfariz’s links to the JI. “A follow-up investigation is still underway as Alfariz is also suspected of supporting the MILF and Al Khobar group by allegedly providing bombs for their planned terrorist attacks. He was also reportedly linked to the bus bombing that took place in Digos City in July last year,” Blancaflor said.

Blancaflor added that Alfariz could also be an overstaying alien, having been residing in the Philippines since 1993.

Shortly after being arrested, Alfariz was taken to the Davao regional police headquarters for tactical interrogation and debriefing.

Chief Superintendent Andres Caro II, directorate for Integrated Police Operations-Eastern Mindanao commander, said immigration documents seized from Alfariz showed that he is a Bangladeshi. But Alfariz told police that he was a Pakistani. Police later checked with the Pakistan and Bangladesh embassies in Metro Manila and were able to confirm that Alfariz is a Bangladeshi.

Senior Superintendent Danny Bacas, Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao police operations chief, said Alfariz lived secretly in Sultan Mastura near the MILF’s central headquarters in Sultan Kudarat town in Shariff Kabunsuan.

Army intelligence sources confirmed that Alfariz has links with the rogue MILF band under Ameril Umbra Kato.

It was Alfariz and his JI cohorts that provided Umbra and his men the technology to make improvised explosive devices from mortar rounds or anti-tank rockets, the sources added.