| 2 firearms seized from CVOs used in Ampatuan massacre -- police |
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| by Allen V Estabillo/MindaNews | |
| Wednesday, 02 December 2009 22:51 | |
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GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/2 Dec) -- At least two firearms seized by police operatives last week from civilian volunteers in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao turned out positive as among those used in the November 23 massacre of at least 57 people, including 30 journalists, a police official disclosed here Wednesday. “The two firearms were initially confirmed as among those that were fired at the scene,” he told reporters. Dangane, who attended a meeting here of police investigators handling the Ampatuan massacre, said the seized firearms appeared to have been used in the killing of some of the victims, among them Manila Bulletin reporter Alejandro Reblando and one of the van drivers. He pointed out that Reblando and the van driver, who were among the initial 22 victims found at the massacre site, sustained multiple gunshot wounds from an M-16 Armalite and a shotgun. Dangane, who was among the police officials who went to the massacre site a day after the killings happened, said they recovered the two firearms from two members of the village’s Civilian Volunteer Organization (CVO) who were nabbed near the massacre site following the killings. He did not name the two CVO members but cited that the suspects and their firearms are now under the custody of the Cotabato City police office. “We initially charged them with illegal possession of firearms. But now I think they will be included in the (murder) case,” he said. But Dangane hinted that the two suspects may later be tapped by government prosecutors in the murder cases that were filed Tuesday against principal suspect Datu Unsay, Maguindanao Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. “I’m hoping that they will eventually tell the truth about the incident,” he added. A group of armed men allegedly led by Mayor Ampatuan held and later killed members of the family of Buluan Vice Mayor Ismael Mangudadatu, their lawyers and at least 30 journalists who were on their way to file the vice mayor's certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor at the Commission on Elections provincial office in Shariff Aguak town last November 23. Joint police, Army and civilian search and retrieval teams initially found at least 22 bodies scattered at a hilly portion of Sitio Masalay in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan and later retrieved 24 more remains at a shallow grave in the area. At least 11 more bodies were later retrieved from a second grave, where three vehicles were also dumped. (Allen V. Estabillo / MindaNews) Share this story through the following Social Media sites:            |
