Retired cop, working vs drugs, shot dead

MANILA, Philippines - A retired police officer, who survived a grenade attack recently, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Quezon City on Friday.

Retired Senior Police Officer 4 Sala Uddin, 63, was ambushed by armed men while he was riding a tricycle along Tandang Sora Avenue in Barangay Culiat at around 10:20 a.m.

Senior Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar, Quezon City Police District director, said they are investigating if the same persons behind the Culiat explosion are responsible for Uddin’s murder.

Uddin was one of the four policemen and three civilians wounded in a grenade blast outside the Al Salaam Mosque Compound in the same barangay on the morning of Sept. 26.

They were supposedly preparing to patrol the area when a grenade was thrown at them.

Uddin, a resident of the compound, along with the other wounded police officers “were instrumental” in anti-illegal drug operations in their area, Eleazar said.

Eleazar said drug deals in the area have been on the decline since the start of the anti-illegal drug campaign in the area but admitted there might still be suppliers in the compound.

At least 217 suspects have been arrested during raids on drug dens in the area since August.

Eleazar said they will not stop raiding drug dens in the compound, which police officers were not able to enter before.