Sulu LTO executive gunned down in Zamboanga hotel

ZAMBOANGA CITY , Philippines   – A liaison officer of the Land Transportation Office (LTO) of Sulu was shot dead in a hotel near the airport here yesterday morning, according to a police official.

Acting city police director Senior Superintendent Edwin de Ocampo identified the victim through his license as Abdulhamin Mohammad Bandahala, 44, a native of Indanan town, Sulu, and liaison assistant of LTO Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao for Sulu province.

De Ocampo said investigation showed that the victim had an altercation about 8:45 a.m. against five suspects while in front of the desk of Azenith Royale, along Gov. Camins Road, some few hundred meters away from the airport.

“The altercation ended in brawl and led to the shooting, killing the victim on the spot,” the police official said.

The suspects immediately escaped on board a vehicle toward the city. However, tracking police caught up with the suspects along Corcuera street near the wharf.

One of the five arrested suspects is a policeman identified as Police Officer 2 Bensaudi Sakiran, detailed with the Talipao Municipal Police Office and the driver Cabrera Hassan.

The police recovered from Sakiran his .45 caliber pistol and 9mm pistol, from another suspect.

Investigators recovered a slug and an empty shell for a .45 caliber pistol. But the authorities have yet to recover the weapon used in the murder of Bandahala.

De Ocampo said investigators were trying to determine the motive of the incident.