DAVAO CITY (MindaNews / 5 January) — Police authorities here are investigating the possibility that the gunmen behind the December 14 mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, had traveled to Cotabato province after phone signals from one of their mobile phones were detected there, an official from the Police Regional Office (PRO)-Davao said.
In an interview on the sidelines of Kapehan sa Dabaw at SM City on Monday, Maj. Catherine dela Rey, PRO-Davao spokesperson, said that based on their investigation, PRO-Davao operatives detected the phone signals in Cotabato province, although authorities are still verifying whether the two had actually visited there.
When asked how police traced the phone signals, Dela Rey said she could not provide the technical details.
She said there is an ongoing coordination with the intelligence unit in Cotabato to trace the gunmen’s movement.
“That information cannot be discounted, which is why we also coordinated with the authorities. Up to now, we still have no update on whether they actually reached there, so the backtracking is ongoing,” she said in Cebuano.
On December 16, the Bureau of Immigration confirmed that the Bondi shooters — identified as Sajid Akram, 50, an Indian national, and his son, Naveed Akram, 24, an Indian-Australian — arrived in the country on November 1 from Sydney.
The two declared Davao as their final destination.
Brig. Gen. Leon Victor Z. Rosete, PRO-Davao director, said last month that the suspects were linked to the Islamic State and, based on the information provided by Australian counterterrorism experts, were “reported to have travelled to the Philippines for training.”
MindaNews confirmed on December 17 that the Bondi Beach shooters were billeted at the GV Hotel along Magallanes Street in downtown Davao City from November 1 to 28, but hotel staff stated that the two individuals remained mostly in their rooms during this period.
Dela Rey added that authorities are backtracking the gunmen’s activities in Davao and identifying individuals they might have communicated with during their stay here.
She said that the suspects did not train here, contrary to reports that they received military-style training during their stay.
“There are no training areas in Davao. That’s what they were thinking that training was happening here. Negative. There are no training areas in Davao,” she said.
Dela Rey confirmed that the two had visited a gun shop within the city but said they did not purchase any firearms. She added that personnel of the gun shop, which she did not identify when asked, showed police investigators the CCTV footage of the Akrams.
(Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
