SULU (Mindanao Examiner / Mar. 26, 2014) – Police and military forces have captured a suspected kidnapper following a brief chase Tuesday in Jolo town in the southern Philippine province of Sulu, officials said.
Officials said Jaavier Julma Kabir was arrested at the village of San Raymundo after his victim, a 17-year old student, screamed for help upon seeing the security forces. Kabir was driving a tricycle with her victim when pursued by soldiers and policemen, said Senior Superintendent Abraham Orbita, the provincial police chief.
Orbita said a fragmentation grenade was also recovered from Kabir. “We are currently interrogating the suspect to determine if he is a member of the Abu Sayyaf or other group behind the series of kidnappings here,” he told the regional newspaper Mindanao Examiner.
Locals and provincial government officials have condemned the series of kidnappings perpetrated by the Abu Sayyaf and drug addicts and criminal gangs in Sulu and called on the citizens to stay vigilant and report to authorities suspicious persons and provide information about criminals.
Just recently, suspected Abu Sayyaf kidnappers freed Claire Salinas after more than a month in captivity, but the rebel group is still holding her husband, Bonifacio Salinas, in Sulu. The couple was seized outside their house in Kasalamatan village in Patikul town on February 16. Both husband and wife work at the Jolo Mainland Water District.
The Abu Sayyaf is still holding several hostages, among them two European wildlife photographers Ewold Horn, 52, from Holland; and Lorenzo Vinciguerre, 47, from Switzerland who were kidnapped in Tawi-Tawi province on February 2012.
The two foreigners, along with their Filipino guide Ivan Sarenas, 35, were seized at gunpoint by five men in the coastal village of Parangan in Panglima Sugala town while taking photographs of wild birds, and handed them over to the Abu Sayyaf. Sarenas managed to escape, but the fate of the two foreigners and other hostages are still unknown. (Mindanao Examiner)
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