CABANATUAN CITY – Police have rescued a 59-year-old appliance store owner who was kidnapped allegedly by his own cousin and two other suspects in Barangay Kap. Pepe here Monday.
Led by Nueva Ecija Police Provincial Office director Col. Heryl Bruno, combined police units also arrested the suspects during hot pursuit operations in different places, police said.
Investigation showed the victim had just arrived on board a red pick-up truck in his warehouse in the high-end village when the hooded suspects snatched him and commandeered his vehicle at around 7:25 a.m.
The suspects demanded P5 million for his release, police disclosed.
Operatives from the Cabanatuan City Police Station, in coordination the Provincial Intelligence Unit, 1st Mobile Force Company, Provincial Mobile Field Force, Regional Special Operations Group-3, San Miguel Municipal Police Station, and Palayan City Police Station were mobilized to run after the culprits, according to Bruno.
Investigation also revealed that while fleeing, the suspects’ vehicle struck two residents in Barangay Bakod, also of this city, prompting witnesses to stone their vehicle. The hit-and-run victims were rushed to Paulino J. Garcia Memorial Research and Medical Center.
Police later found the victim somewhere at Amorville, Purok 1, Barangay Bakod Bayan while his pick-up truck was abandoned at Sitio Hacienda, Purok 2 in the same village.
The first suspect, the 49-year-old cousin of the victim, turned out to be an absent without official leave policeman and resident of Barangay Mabini Extension, Cabanatuan City was collared at Sitio Daang Bakal, Barangay San Juan, San Miguel, Bulacan at around 5:52 p.m. while trying to sell the businessman’s mobile phone, which unknown to the suspect, was equipped with a tracking app.
His alleged cohorts, a 34-year-old single male of Barangay Barrera this city and a 27-year-old married male of Palayan City, were later arrested in their respective villages, police added.
The suspects are now detained at the Cabanatuan City police’s custodial facility facing charges of kidnapping under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code.
Bruno commended the swift and coordinated response of all units, emphasizing that knowledge and authority gained from police service are meant to protect the public—not to be exploited for criminal acts.
He said this kind of operation followed the directives of Police Region 3 director BGen. Ponce Rogelio Pen̈ones as aligned with the PNP Focused Agenda under Pnp chief Lt. Gen. Jose Melencio Nartatez, Jr.
