Quezon City cops recapture escaped kidnapper

MANILA, Philippines - A convicted kidnapper who escaped from prison last Jan. 31 was captured by Quezon City Police District (QCPD) police officers at his hideout Thursday, officials said yesterday.

QCPD director Chief Superintendent Benjardi Mantele identified the kidnapper as Benley Ancheta Pua, 37, a fugitive from the Sablayan Penal Facility in Mindoro Occidental, where he had been transferred from the New Bilibid Prisons in Muntinlupa.

Pua was serving a life sentence at the Sablayan prison for kidnapping and illegal possession of firearms after his death penalty was commuted to life imprisonment.

In his report, QCPD District Police Intelligence Operation Unit (DPIOU) chief Superintendent Marcelino Pedrozo said an informant tipped them off three months ago that a prison escapee was hiding out at the H&L Building in Galas.

Operatives from the DPIOU Special Project Group (SPG) led by Senior Inspector Chito Macaspac placed the apartment on surveillance until they confirmed Pua was actually renting Unit 3-C of the multi-story apartment building.

Pua was initially identified as Eric Chotoco Miranda but subsequent record checks and verification with various government offices, courts and law enforcement agencies revealed that Miranda was really Pua.

Police officers tailed Pua when he left his apartment and arrested him. Pua and his brother Nelson were convicted of kidnapping the daughter of a businessman in San Jose, Nueva Ecija on Nov. 23, 1998.

Pua brought the victim to Baguio City and demanded a P5-million ransom.

The family haggled and the suspect agreed to bring it down to P1.5 million.

The victim’s family then coordinated with the police for the arrest of the brothers.

Mantele commended the DPIOU for the successful police operation. The captured fugitive will be turned over to the Bureau of Corrections.