Manila cop abducted on way home in Sampaloc

Police are now hot on trail on a group of heavily armed men who abducted a Manila policeman past midnight yesterday in Sampaloc, Manila.

The alleged abduction of Police Officer 1 Casem Ote, 27, an operative of the Western Police District’s Motor Reaction Team, was reported by his wife, Lawanbae, to Chief Inspector Antonio Militar, chief of the WPD’s District Special Reaction Unit.

In his report to WPD director Chief Superintendent Pedro Bulaong, Militar said Ote was on his way home to 916 Lerma street, Quezon Boulevard in Sampaloc on board his red Toyota Corolla (PNR-487) at about 2:30 a.m. when a van intentionally bumped his car from behind.

This prompted Ote to alight from his car but was met by the suspects with drawn guns. Ote was whisked inside one of two vans, while another suspect drove the policeman’s vehicle.

The convoy proceeded to an unknown direction, according to Militar’s report, which also stated that the suspects had been trailing the victim’s car before the abduction. The report cited an 18-year-old housewife as a witness to the abduction.

On the other hand, a report prepared by SPO2 Mario Salonga of the WPD’s General Assignment Section, showed four vehicles without license plates blocked Ote’s car several blocks away from the victim’s residence.

Eight burly men with M-16 rifles and caliber .45 pistols alighted from their vehicles and shoved the victim inside one of the vans.

Salonga said one of the suspects even hit the resisting victim with the butt of his pistol. Another suspect drove the victim’s car.

Salonga cited a former barangay chairman, who is a neighbor of the victim, as a witness to the abduction.

Investigators said they still have to establish the motive for the abduction pending further questioning of the victim’s wife. The police, however, have coordinated with different law enforcement agencies in locating the whereabouts of the victim.

In Quezon City, a member of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) team of the Caloocan City police, moonlighting as an FX taxi driver, was killed yesterday morning in a heist along Commonwealth Avenue.

Police identified the victim as Police Officer 3 Ricardo De Vera, 31. He died before reaching the Fairview General Hospital after sustaining gun shot wounds in the stomach and thigh.

Initial investigation showed that De Vera, on board his FX taxi (UKJ-356), was cruising on Commonwealth Avenue toward Fairview when one of his male passengers seated at the back of the vehicle suddenly announced the heist.

While the suspect was divesting the valuables of a passenger, another passenger identified only as Cristina cried for help, catching the attention of De Vera.

De Vera stopped his taxi and introduced himself as a policeman to the suspect, whom he tried to arrest.

The suspect aimed his .9 mm pistol at De Vera, prompting De Vera to make a grab for the weapon. A scuffle ensued and shots were fired. De Vera fell to the ground.

Patrolling members of the Central Police District Station 6 in Batasan responded to the scene but failed to catch the suspect. – With Edu Punay, Katherine Adraneda