ZAMBOANGA CITY – Police are looking for an Abu Sayyaf sub-leader and his wife who were reportedly “picked up” by 10 armed men wearing ski masks and camouflage uniforms in Sulu.
Senior Superintendent Jul-asirim Kasim, Sulu police director, said they have received reports that Abu Sayyaf sub-leader Usman Salapuddin and his wife were captured in Barangay Tumabal, near Pangutaran town and the Jolo capital.
Kasim said Salapuddin, which carried a bounty of $25,000, had an arrest warrant for kidnapping and extortion.
“We still don’t know who really picked him up, but the reports described those who seized him as wearing ski masks and camouflage uniforms,” he said.
Kasim cited reports that the armed men took the Salapuddins on a temper-type watercraft.
Kasim said they have coordinated with the military but their effort yielded nothing.
Maj. Gen. Juancho Sabban, chief of the anti-terror Joint Task Force Comet, said they were also checking the reported capture of Salapuddin.