Crack team formed to hunt Bacolod trader's kidnappers

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines – The Philippine National Police (PNP) has formed an Intelligence Task Group to hasten the arrest of the kidnappers of a Filipino-Chinese businessman who was snatched here Wednesday.

Chief Superintendent Cipriano Querol, Western Visayas police director, said the task force will be composed of intelligence personnel from the city and regional police and men of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.

There have been three kidnappings in Bacolod this week, police said.

Last Wednesday, two ski mask-wearing men seized the 39-year-old Filipino-Chinese businessman near the Libertad public market here, robbed him of his money and later left him in a hotel in Barangay Singcang Airport.

Last Tuesday, a guard of a gasoline station foiled the attempt of three hooded men in kidnapping a female call center agent along Lacson-Roxas Street.

Last Sunday, a nine-year-old child was seized in Barangay 40 but was later released in Barangay Sum-ag. It was reported to be a case of mistaken identity.

Senior Superintendent Celestino Guara Jr., Bacolod City police chief, said the businessman had come from the Philippine National Bank branch on Amelia Street and was on his way to his vehicle when the two men tailed him.

Guara said one of the ski mask-wearing men poked a gun at him while the other took his bag containing the money.

The two men then forced the victim into his vehicle and drove away, prompting bystanders to seek police help, he added.