NCRPO agents capture most wanted man
ONE of Metro Manila’s most wanted persons was captured by agents of the National Capital Region Police Office in his hiding place in Antipolo City in Rizal following nearly eight years in hiding, NCRPO director Brigadier General Jose Melencio C. Nartatez Jr. said yesterday.
Edgar Torrechilla Esmalde, a 54-year-old driver, who was wanted for a non-bailable qualified rape case, was located in his hideout in Sitio Tanza 1 in Barangay San Jose, Antipolo City past 2 p.m. Thursday by members of the NCRPO Regional Special Operations Group/Regional Intelligence Division, said the Metro Manila police chief.
According to Brig. Gen. Nartatez, the suspect was the subject of a warrant of arrest for qualified rape issued by Judge Martesther Vedanam of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 48 on September 10, 2015, with no bail recommended.
He said that the suspect went into hiding after he was charged with sexual abuse in Manila sometime in 2003. The victim was a minor.
In 2011, the suspect was convicted for acts of lasciviousness and served his sentence in 2015.
However, after being freed, he went into hiding after learning that a warrant of arrest for qualified rape was issued against him by the court.
Brig. Gen. Nartatez said that an ‘intelligence-driven’ operation enabled his men to arrest the suspect with the support of officers from the PNP Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and the Special Action Force.
“This achievement serves as a warning to all other fugitives that they can never escape from the long hand of the law,” said the official as he congratulated all police officers involved in the arrest of the elusive suspect who was temporarily placed under the custody of the NCRPO RSOG/RID pending his presentation to the court.
