COTABATO CITY – Vigilant bellboys foiled an attempt to bomb a hotel in Isulan, Sultan Kudarat the other day, and authorities again blamed the incident on the notorious Al-Khobar extortion ring.
Senior Inspector Fernando Dialogo, Isulan police chief, said workers of the Clarita Lodging House found the improvised explosive device fashioned from a live 81-mm mortar projectile and rigged with a battery-operated timing device, under a bed in one of the rooms.
The two men occupying the room, who were out when the bellboys entered for their routine morning housekeeping, have been held for interrogation.
Dialogo declined to reveal the names of the two men, now undergoing questioning by police and Army probers.
Local officials in Sultan Kudarat, rocked by recent bombings perpetrated by the Al-Khobar, said they are convinced that the two men who brought the bomb to the hotel could be members of the extortion group.
The Al-Khobar has claimed responsibility for the recent spate of bombings of several buses in Central Mindanao, and more than a dozen establishments across the region.
The group, in text messages to some mayors and radio stations in the region, said the attacks were meant to intimidate local businessmen and subsequently force them to shell out protection money.
The Al-Khobar owned up to last week’s bombing of the Philbest tuna canning plant in General Santos City, which left four people dead and 28 others seriously wounded.