Kidnap gang leader falls in Zamboanga

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – A suspected leader of a kidnapping gang was captured yesterday in a raid by a joint police-military team on a coastal village here, authorities said.

But henchmen of suspect Rubi Sabturani shot it out with the lawmen and soldiers and managed to escape, said 1Lt. Steffani Cacho, spokesman of the Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command.

Cacho said Sabturani was seriously wounded in the shootout in Barangay Arena Blanco.

Police were looking into Sabturani group’s involvement in the abduction of three public school teachers last Jan. 23. – Roel Pareño, Jaime Laude