Police charges two men for Kidapawan mall bombing

By Ronron
November 23, 2007

Police nabbed two men and subsequently charged them for the bombing at a mall in Kidapawan City, North Cotabato last Thursday afternoon that killed a man and wounded seven others.

Chief Insp. Leo Ajero, chief of police of Kidapawan City, said in a phone interview yesterday that the two suspects were nabbed around 20 to 30 minutes after an improvised explosive device (IED) blew off past 5pm Thursday at the baggage counter of the KMCC Mall on Dayao Street.

Ajero said Hassan Mohaliden, 19, and Alex Sanduyugan, 20, were located at the vicinity of the mall after the blast, and recovered from them was a numbered claim stub for the baggage that allegeldy contained the IED.

Ajero said there were witnesses who positively identified Mohaliden and Sanduyugan as the two who deposited a carton at the baggage counter of KMCC Mall minutes before the explosion.

At around noontime Friday, the two were charged before the Kidapawan City Prosecutor’s Office for murder and multiple frustrated murder, Ajero said.

The lone fatality in the incident, Boyet Alcazar, was the male attendant at the baggage counter, while the wounded victims (four females and three males) include mall employees, shoppers and passersby.

The wounded, which included a 16-year-old female, were treated at the Malaluan Clinic and the Kidapawan City Doctor’s Hospital.

Ajero said that even if the suspects denied involvement in the blast, there were witnesses who identified them, thus the filing of charges against them. He admitted, though, that there is no other material evidence recovered from the suspects’ possession such as ingredients in making an IED.

Ajero said they are still investigating if the two are members of the Al-Khobar Group, which is being suspected as responsible for the incident because of a telephone call it made to the city mayor last November 21, demanding P500,000 as protection money.

Ajero said that since Mayor Rodolfo Gantuangco does not appear to own the KMCC Mall, then they are taking the threat that went along with the extortion demand as being directed to the general area of the city.

Recovered from the blast site were parts of cellular phone (believed to be the triggering device), and concrete nails, bolt bearings, and small metallic parts (believed to be the shrapnel). The main charge or explosive component is still being determined.

Thursday’s bombing followed the blast in early October this year that killed a child, and wounded over 30 others./DMS