Police killed on Wednesday morning a member of a gun-for-hire group in a raid in his house in Siocon town of Zamboanga del Norte.
Brig. Gen. Jonnel Estomo, director of the Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG), said the slain suspect Lahaba Muhajid Bacolod was also tagged as the gunman in the assassination of an engineer in Siocon town in 2012.
“He went into hiding for a long time since the death of that engineer, especially when a case was filed against him,” said Estomo.
While in hiding, Bacolod reportedly became a member of a criminal group operating in Zamboanga del Norte. The group was tagged in a series of robberies, kidnap-for-ransom and killings in the province.
Bacolod was killed after he allegedly traded shots with the AKG operatives who were out to serve the arrest warrant against him in Sitio Dao, in Barangay Makiang in Siocon town at around 6 a.m. on Thursday.
The slain suspect was accused in at least two cases of murder.
Police seized a .45 pistol from Bacolod.