Posted on 03/01/2005 2:09:34 PM PST by Zuben Elgenubi
3rd Makati blast eludes arrest anew
By Joel Francis Guinto
INQ7.net
THE THIRD suspect in the Valentine's Day bombing in Makati City has eluded arrest for a second time, Metro Manila police chief Director Avelino Razon Jr. said Tuesday.
Razon said in a phone interview that Gapal Bana, who goes by the aliases Maidan and Boy Negro, encountered authorities who were pursuing him in Libmanan town, Camarines Sur province at around 10 p.m. Sunday.
A brief firefight ensued and Bana was hit in the thigh before he escaped to a thickly forested area, Razon said.
“He cannot go very far and we are optimistic that will get him,” Razon said.
Police tracked Bana to the said town after receiving reports that he was visiting his wife who reportedly lives there, Razon said.
Bana eluded arrest in Taguig City Tuesday last week.
Bana, an alleged Abu Sayyaf member, allegedly supplied the explosives that were placed in a RRCG bus that exploded at the Ayala-MRT station, killing four people and injuring close to a hundred others.
His two comradeswho are believed to have planted the bomb, Angelo Trinidad alias Abu Khalil and Gamal Baharan, were arrested last week.
Eight people were killed while 150 others were wounded after almost simultaneous bomb blasts rocked the cities of Makati, Davao, and General Santos last February 14.
The military has confirmed that the Abu Sayyaf, an affiliate of the al-Qaeda terrorist network, masterminded the attack with the help of the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah.
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