photo: AFP
Joint police and military operatives captured one of the suspects in the Dec. 3 Marawi City bombing that led to the death of at least four people who were hearing mass inside a gymnasium of the Mindanao State University along with around 50 others who were injured during the blast.
Col. Xerxes Trinidad, chief military information officer, said arrested suspect Jafar Gamo Sultan, alias Jaf and Kurot, was collared on Dec. 6 in Barangay Dulayb Proper in Marawi City.
He was among those who was seen in a CCTV footage wearing a black shirt, maong pants and a red cap.
“The arrested suspect is companion of a certain Omar, the person identified by witnesses to have placed the improvised explosive device at the Dimaporo Gymnasium,” said Trinidad.
Police earlier identified the two main persons of interest who brought in the improvised explosive device inside the gym as Kadapi Mimbesa, alias Engineer, and Asani Membisa, alias Khatab.
Two other persons who served as a lookout are also being hunted down. Police are yet to confirm if Sultan is among the two lookouts.
Based on the initial investigation, it was Khatab who brought the bomb at the gymnasium while Mimbesa was the one who detonated it using his cellular phone.
Both are fugitives facing murder cases and are tagged as members of the Daulah Islamiya-Maute Group.
Trinidad said joint police and military operatives seized two motorcycles during the operation that captured Sultan.
“This development shows the seriousness of the government in capturing the perpetrators of the terrorist attack on innocent civilians and in ensuring that similar incidents will not happen again,” said Trinidad.
“It also demonstrates the AFP's (Armed Forces of the Philippines) commitment to its mandate as protector of the people and the state,” he added.