CIDG nabs 2 Ecija cops for ‘kidnap-slay’ of female trader
PHILIPPINE National Police Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) Director Brigadier General Romeo M. Caramat Jr., on Friday announced the arrest of two Nueva Ecija police officers accused of kidnapping and killing a businesswoman in Sta. Rosa municipality before burning her body to hide their crime.
In a report to PNP Chief General Rodolfo S. Azurin Jr., the PNP-CIDG director said the two accused were a Staff Sergeant of the Palayan City Police Station and a Master Sergeant, of the Cabanatuan City Police Office.
Caramat said that the two were arrested by officers from the CIDG Nueva Ecija Provincial Field Unit (PFU) inside the Cabanatuan City Regional Trial Court (RTC) Branch 24 office on Thursday morning on orders of Judge Ana Marie Joson-Viterbo.
He said that the judge found the two accused “guilty” of kidnapping-for-ransom with homicide under Article 267 of the Revised Penal Code (RPC) and sentenced them to jail.
“Nakatanggap ng tawag ang ating mga tauhan sa Nueva Ecija mula sa nasabing korte upang ipaalam na sila ay maglalabas nga ng kanilang hatol laban sa mga akusado. Nagpunta naman agad ang ating tauhan doon, kumuha ng kopya ng Joint Judgment at isinagawa ang pag-aresto,” said the official.
In a 36-page decision, the court ruled that the accused and their other co-accused, with the use of firearms, conspired with one another to kidnap and threaten to kill Nadia Motalib Casar for the purpose of demanding a P100,000 ransom from her and her family.
The suspects later killed, burned, and buried the victim’s remains.
The PNP-CIDG investigation showed that Casar and her companion, a TNVS (Transportation Network Vehicle Services) driver, were snatched by the suspects in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija, on July 20, 2021, and detained in an undisclosed location where during her captivity, the woman was instructed by the suspects to call her family to relay their ransom demand in exchange for her freedom.
The kidnappers released the driver unharmed. However, the businesswoman’s burned remains were recovered by the police 13 days later.
Both policemen-suspects are now under the custody of the CIDG Nueva Ecija pending their turnover to proper authorities.
Caramat condemned the act committed by the two accused and vowed an unrelenting campaign against rogues in uniform. “This disgraceful act of some of our fellow men in uniform is the reason why the PNP leadership is very eager and serious in cleansing its ranks. Tayo dapat ang nagpo-protekta sa ating mamamayan,” the official said. BY ZAIDA DELOS REYES & ALFRED DALIZON
