'Sayyaf' in murder of religious group's members nabbed

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines  - Combined government security forces arrested a suspected Abu Sayyaf member, tagged to be involved in the kidnapping of Jehovah’s Witness members in Sulu 12 years ago, during a hunt operation in a the public market on Saturday.

The suspect Harijin Jinny alias Kim, 36, was on duty as a security guard in one of the stores along Mercado Street when he was nabbed about 4:50 p.m. by the intelligence units of the police and the military.

The operatives of the Regional Intelligence Division of the Police Regional Office 9 and the Task Force Zamboanga  (TFZ) said the suspect was arrested with the strength of warrant of arrest issued by Judge Toribio Ilao Jr. of National Capital Region Regional Trial Court  branch 266 of Pasig City for the crime of kidnapping with serious illegal detention.

The case stemmed from the abduction of  six members of Jehovah’s Witness in 2002 in Patikul town, Sulu where two of the victims were subsequently beheaded and their decapitated heads dumped near a gas station in Jolo, Sulu.

Jinny, who did not resist arrest, however, vehemently denied the charges against him and said he is a victim of a case of mistaken identity.

He claimed he hasn't gone to Sulu and believes that the authorities could be looking for his brother-in-law.

The suspect has been temporarily placed under the custody of the regional police intelligence unit in Camp Battalia for documentation and proper disposition.

The arrest of the suspect came as the police and the military have raised an alert in this city following the clash between civilian residents and plywood company guards Saturday and the peace rally by peace advocates calling for the support of the approval of the proposed Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL) of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) to be implemented under the new Bangsamoro region.