DAVAO – A hijacking suspect was killed while two of his companions were arrested in a shootout with the police in a village in Davao del Sur Monday.
The fatality was identified as Dioscoro Omang, while the arrested suspects were identified as Almar Conde alias Curoy, 19, and his brother George Conde, 27, all residents of Barangay Astorga in Sta. Cruz town, Davao del Sur.
The three were among the six men who hijacked a 10-wheeler Fuzo truck in Barangay Tagabuli, Sta. Cruz, around 12:15 a.m. Monday. The truck was delivering 520 sacks of rice worth P900,000.
The suspects were onboard two motorcycles when they blocked the truck driven by Jimmy Yama, 33, a resident of Norala in South Cotabato. Yama was accompanied by one Loreto Bandi.
"One of the suspects told them na nangahulog daw ilang karga nga bugas mao tong mihunong sila along the way to check on it (One of the suspects told them that some of their rice cargo fell, reason why they disembarked to check)," Sta. Cruz Municipal Police Station Chief Alfredo Santillana said.
But as the victims went down, four of the six men whipped out guns and tied the two up.
Two of the suspects boarded the truck with the victims who were later dumped at a village in Sta. Cruz.
A follow-up operation by the Davao del Sur Provincial Police Office and the Sta. Cruz Municipal Police led to the whereabouts of three of the six suspects at Sitio Salimoro in Barangay Coronon, Sta. Cruz around 1:30 a.m. Monday.
Santillana said he will seek the assistance of the Army's 39th Infantry Battalion in running after the three other suspects who reportedly fled to remote areas of Sta. Cruz.
Recovered from the crime scene were six empty cartridges of a caliber 9mm pistol, three cartridges of a caliber 5.56 pistol, and 1357 Smith and Wesson revolver with four live ammunition, and an empty cartridge.
The two suspects are now in jail while appropriate charges are being prepared by the police for filing in court. (Sun.Star Davao/Sunnex)
