By BEN SERRANO Correspondent BUTUAN City––An armed group shot and killed a Higaonon tribal chieftain in an ambush at Sitio Balhatan, Barangay Camagong, Nasipit, Agusan del Norte, on Wednesday afternoon. Agusan del Norte police director Senior Supt. Rommel Francisco Marbil identified the victim as 38-year old Ricardo Mandahinog Sulhayan of the tribal village of Mimbahandi, Barangay Camagong in Nasipit town. Sulhayan was known as Datu Saliganan to his tribe. Police said Sulhayan was driving a Honda XRM motorcycle and was headed home from a tribal meeting in Las Nieves, Agusan del Norte, when he was attacked by an armed group. The killers finished off the wounded Sulhayan by hacking him repeatedly. Investigators said Sulhayan was beyond recognition as a result of the multiple hack wounds all over. Police said Sulhayan had a bag that contained a contained caliber .45 pistol, and it was gone. Crime scene investigators however said they killers left the victim’s mobile phone and motorcycle. The area where Sulhayan was attacked was also where Agusan del Norte Gov. Maria Angelica Rossdell Matba survived an ambush in March 26. Matba was unhurt but a police officer in her convoy was wounded. The Army’s 4th Infantry Division quickly accused the New People’s Army (NPA) of being responsible for the gruesome killing of the tribal leader, noting that the victim was an anti-communist and that he had just come from a meeting of tribal leaders who were planning their moves against the NPA. Capt. Jose Patrick Martinez, Camp Evangelista spoksman, said the killers were members of the NPA’s Front 4A, North Central Mindanao Regional Committee. The NPA has yet to own or disown the killing of Sulhayan. Martinez said there were witnesses who saw rebels, armed with AK47 rifles, shoot the tribal leader to  the forehead and shoulders. In a statement, organized Higaonons, said the NPA had long been trying to get Sulhayan because of his anti-communist campaign. They claimed the tribal chieftain and his family had been threatened. Maj. Gen. Oscar Lactao, commander of 4th Infantry Division, said, “We strongly condemn this... This will create another cycle of violence in the area. There is a need to put an end to all of this. We will support the PNP to track down the perpetrators to put an end to NPA atrocities.”