MANILA, Philippines — A suspected Abu Sayyaf rebel wanted for murder was arrested in Quezon City yesterday.
Abdulmuin Yahiya, 35, was arrested along AD Basilan street at Salaam Compound in Barangay Culiat at around 10 a.m.
Chief Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director, said teams from the District Special Operations Unit, Naval Intelligence and Security Force and National Intelligence Coordinating Agency served an arrest warrant against Yahiya.
The warrant is for four counts of murder and was issued in August 2006 by Judge Leo Jay Principe of Isabela City Regional Trial Court Branch 1 based in Basilan.
Authorities first spotted the suspect along Tandang Sora Avenue. They followed Yahiya and apprehended him in his home.
According to the police, Yahiya was working as a tricycle driver before he was arrested.
“He has been hiding here to avoid the pending cases against him,” Eleazar said in a phone interview.
Yahiya is reportedly affiliated with Hadji Taufik Sanihin Yahiya, another Abu Sayyaf rebel wanted for nine counts of murder and four counts of frustrated murder.
He was brought to the QCPD headquarters at Camp Karingal for further investigation.