Soldiers arrested and turned over to the police on Friday, October 10, one of the six men who allegedly beheaded a Teduray tribal chieftain in Datu Hoffer, Maguindanao del Sur last week.
Brig. Gen. Edgar Catu, commander of the Army’s 601st Infantry Brigade, said the suspect was cornered by soldiers in Sitio Pangayawan, Barangay Tukanalugong, Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao del Sur, before dawn Friday.
The now-detained suspect and five others, who remain at large, were tagged in the brutal killing and beheading on September 30 of Ramon Lupos, a Teduray timuay (chieftain), in a secluded area within their state-recognized ancestral domain in Barangay Limpongo, Datu Hoffer.
Neighbors and relatives of Lupos told reporters that the attackers first beat him with wooden planks and shot him several times before cutting his neck with a machete ‘like an animal.’
Catu said combined personnel of the 601st Infantry Brigade and its component unit, the 90th Infantry Battalion under Lt. Col. Luqui Marco, launched the operation after villagers reported the suspect’s presence in the area.
The suspect, initially identified only as Tagal, is reportedly a member of the Dawlah Islamiya terror group, according to local executives who assisted in the Army operation.
Local officials said Tagal, a Maguindanaon, surrendered peacefully and turned over his .45 caliber pistol to soldiers who found him hiding in the area.
Maj. Gen. Donald Gumiran, commander of the 6th Infantry Division, thanked the vigilant residents of Datu Abdullah Sangki for promptly alerting the military about Tagal’s presence in Barangay Tukanalugong.
Officials of the 90th Infantry Battalion have turned over Tagal to the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region for detention.