Drug killings?
2 more ‘salvaged’ in Ajuy

By Florence F. Hibionada

Two men were killed in the Municipality of Ajuy in what is now feared to be yet another handiwork of a notorious crime group engaged in illegal drug trade and criminality in the area.

With motive yet to be officially established by probers, the deaths of Jovan Delanda and Roy Glenn Tupas of Barangay San Antonio add up to the unresolved killings in said town.  The manner of execution, evidence shows, appeared to point to the same culprits.

In a report, Ajuy police said at least three suspects are being eyed in the twin killings with the remains of the two victims bearing gunshot and stab wounds.  An effort was further made to make the incident appear to be an accident with a single motorcycle placed on top of the fallen bodies of the two.

A clear ‘salvaging,’ P/Inspector Rubine Grandeza was quoted by radio reports when reached for comment on the incident.  Such as the lady police chief confirmed that a portion immediately surrounding the crime scene showed signs of having been ‘cleaned’ when checked by investigators.

The discovery came early Friday morning with police alerted by a local resident who saw the two bodies by the roadside.
 
Delanda had at least five stab wounds while Tupas was shot twice.
 
To date, a man known to the victims was invited for questioning.  It was not immediately clarified if he was considered a suspect or among the civilian informant.

The Ajuy killings particularly that of Barangay San Antonio has caused Board Member Angelo Briones, Liga president, to call for fast and serious police work.  Briones who hails from said barangay is chairman of the Committee on Police Matters of the Iloilo Sanggunian Panlalawigan (SP) and a staunch advocate against illegal drug trade.

The said provincial official has since blamed the killings on an organized syndicate with purported illegal activities not only in Ajuy but nearby northern Iloilo towns.