LINAMON, Lanao del Norte (MindaNews / 7 December) – An 18-hour hostage drama ended in the death of the hostage-taker in Tagoloan, Lanao del Norte yesterday, 6 December, a police official said.
Col. Rolando Suguilon, Lanao del Norte police director, said that Mohammad Ali Abdulwahid, alias Muka, was killed by government troops at 12:30 p.m. Sunday in Barangay Dimayon after negotiations for his surrender bogged down.
Abdulwahid fired at the troops who were serving an arrest warrant Saturday afternoon, wounding an unnamed police officer. He then took his second wife hostage since 6:30 p.m. Saturday.
Tagoloan Mayor Mighty Dimakuta, the first wife of Abdulwahid and other Muslim personalities convinced the suspect, who is wanted for murder and double frustrated murder, to surrender but to no avail.
Suguilon said the suspect, who was armed with an M-14 rifle and a hand grenade, engaged the troops in a ten-minute shootout Sunday.
A teargas was thrown inside his residence prompting him to escape using the backdoor, where pre-positioned troops nailed him, the official added.
Suguilon said that troops rescued the second wife, who was shot by the suspect in the left leg in the course of the negotiation.
Both the woman and the wounded police officer have been declared out of danger by attending physicians.
Citing witnesses, the police official said that Abdulwahid appeared restless days before and even harassed people praying inside the mosque with his rifle.
The joint law enforcement team was composed of the Regional Mobile Force Battalion, Special Action Force, 42nd Armor Company of the 4th Mechanized Infantry Battalion and augmentation forces from the Police Regional Office 10 and the Lanao del Norte provincial police command. (Richel V. Umel / MindaNews)