Robbery gang strikes Indian bizman, 2 pals
After a brief hiatus, notorious robbers in Iloilo province are back.
Iloilo Police Provincial Office (IPPO) chief Senior Supt. Renato Gumban confirmed the resurrection of remnants of the said hold-up group following the robbery of an Indian national Monday afternoon at Passi City, Iloilo.
Gumban stated that their investigation pointed to notorious robbers as the suspects who hit Indian businessman Manjit Kaur and his companions.
“Their group leader is already dead and it looks like that they are trying to build their group again,” he added.
The provincial police chief said that police investigators are now on the hunt for the whereabouts of the suspects.
“We suspect that they would lay low for quite some time but we are also preparing for a possibility that they would strike again,” Gumban opined.
To note, at around 2:30 p.m. of December 7, Manjit Kaur was on board a maroon Isuzu Crosswind bearing plate number XPG-190 when the suspects waylaid the vehicle at Simeon Aguilar St., Passi City, Iloilo.
Kaur was with his driver Romeo Paco, 31, of Brgy. Tunay, Mina, Iloilo and collector Ivory Cerdana, 27, of Brgy. Balatican, Calinog, Iloilo.
The suspects immediately alighted from their red Honda TMX 155 motorcycle.
Armed with a caliber .45 pistol, one of the suspects approached the driver.
The other suspect proceeded to the front passenger seat and suddenly shot the right windshield.
The bullet hit Paco on his right ankle.
On the other hand, the third suspect forcibly took the blue pouch from Cerdana. It contained cash of P40,000 and Nokia 2310 mobile phone.
Seconds later, the suspect sped off to an undisclosed location.
A hot pursuit operation was immediately conducted but yielded negative result.
Meanwhile, Gumban warned collectors of lending companies against highway robberies.
He recommended that a coordination with local police authorities will lessen the risk of getting victimized by robbers.
