By NITZ ARANCON
and LITO RULONA
Correspondents
A POLICEMAN was shot and wounded when armed men attacked them after they arrested a suspected shabu dealer at a relocation site in Canitoan, this city, on Thursday night.
The arrested suspect, 42-year old Abdullah Bantuas of Marawi City, denied knowing those who attacked the police team but admitted that was selling drugs.
Chief Insp. Arnel Polo, head of the City Anti-Illegal Drug Task Force (CAIDTF), said still unidentified men shot and wounded SPO1 Michael Daleon.
Daleon suffered gunshots to the stomach and right leg, and was rushed to the Madonna hospital in Carmen.
Polo said the bullet that hit Daleon in the stomach was fired from a 9mm pistol.
Police were in the process of identifying the suspects, and were preparing to start a manhunt.
Polo said the CAIDTF members arrested Bantuas at around 8 pm who yielded two sachets of suspected shabu, and a caliber .45 pistol with six bullets.
Bantuas was detained at the Maharlika headquarters of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office (Cocpo), and would be charged with illegal possession of drugs, firearms, and ammunition.
Polo said PO1 Daleon and the other officers were bringing Bantuas with them when an armed group started firing shots at the law enforcers.
Polo said the assailants managed to escape because it was dark.
Bantuas confessed to selling drugs but added he also has a lending business. He said his source of illegal drugs is a person in Canitoan.
“Gi-buy bust ko nila sa dalan og wala ko kabalo kinsa ang nagpusil sa polis,” Bantuas said.
Bantuas also said he was armed with a pistol because he was under threat resulting from a supposed rido. The gun, he claimed, belongs to one of his cousins.
“Kon dili pa lang ko Muslim wala untay rido sa among pamilya. Nagdala kog pusil kay akong depinsa basin sulongon ko sa among kontra,” said Bantuas.
SPO1 Rene Destura recounted: “We had been conducting surveillance operations against the group of Bantuas. Pag-kahuman namo og test buy gabii kalit lang namusil ang kauban ni Bantuas sa mga polis.”
Destura said Bantuas was already cuffed when the other suspects carried out the attack.
He said they retaliated while securing Bantuas, and the wounded Daleon.
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