5 suspects in Central Mindanao bombings nabbed

COTABATO CITY v  – Police arrested in Tantangan, South Cotabato yesterday five suspects in the series of deadly bombings in Central Mindanao recently.

Senior Superintendent Nilo Wong, South Cotabato police director, said the suspects were cornered in their hideout at the town proper of Tantangan, an agricultural town and home to mixed Muslim and Christian residents.

The suspects – Hadji Ting Usman, 39; Din Bansel, 32; Sammy Akang, 33; Jahir Mindal Malida, 33; and Ismael Tabidtig Ganda, 47 – did not resist arrest when policemen swooped down on their lair.

Wong said Usman, the group’s leader, was wanted for his alleged involvement in a recent bombing in Kidapawan City.

Judge Rogelio Naresma of the Regional Trial Court Branch 13 in Central Mindanao issued the warrant for Usman’s arrest.

Wong said the four other suspects acted as Usman’s cohorts in the bombing attacks on business establishments and bus firms which had ignored their demand for “protection money.”

Wong said investigators are convinced that the five suspects are ranking members of the Al-Khobar extortion ring.