Five alleged members of the New People’s Army (NPA) were arrested during a warrant service operation along Circumferential Road, Barangay Matab-ang, Talisay City, Negrpos Occidental, 7:05 p.m. Wednesday, the Police Regional Office Negros Island Region (PRO-NIR) said today.
The group was previously involved in an armed encounter with the 79th Infantry Battalion (79IB) in Toboso, Negros Occidental, on Sunday from which they had initially managed to escape, the PRO NIR said.
Operatives were serving an arrest warrant for attempted murder against a suspect identified as alias “Glem” when four additional individuals were apprehended after being found in possession of firearms and explosives, it said.
Some of the suspects reportedly had visible body wounds.
Authorities recovered four short firearms, live ammunition, and explosive devices from the them, the PRO NIR said.
The arrested individuals were identified as alias “Glem”, 48, a resident of Zamboanga Sibugay and Squad Leader of the North Negros Front (NNF); alias “Dan”, 25, of Himamaylan City, Squad Leader of Central Negros 2 (CN2); alias “Jud” , 34, of San Carlos City; alias “Ju”, 26, of Murcia; and alias “Je” ,57, of Bacolod City.
Both “Glem” and “Dan” are listed on the Periodic Status Report (PSR) of wanted personalities.
The suspects were informed of their constitutional rights and are currently in police custody.
PRO-NIR described the mission as a “high-impact operation” that deals a substantial blow to the leadership and operational capability of Communist Terrorist Groups in the region.
The operation, conducted under COPLAN “Head Strike,” was led by the Regional Intelligence Division (RID) of PRO-NIR in coordination with the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group Regional Field Unit (CIDG-RFU), the Regional Intelligence Unit (RIU), the Regional Mobile Force Battalion (RMFB), the 6th Special Action Battalion of the PNP Special Action Force (6th SAB, PNP SAF), the Talisay City Component Police Station (Talisay CCPS), and the 79th Infantry Battalion (79IB) of the Philippine Army.*
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