SIX hours after being acquitted of criminal cases, a man was shot dead Tuesday night by motorcycle-riding gunmen in Barangay 176, Bagong Silang, Caloocan City.
Police identified the victim as Datukan Samad, alias Lastikman, a resident of Pikit, North Cotabato.
Senior Supt. Restituto Arcangel, Caloocan City police chief, said Samad was acquitted of murder and kidnap-for-ransom cases on Tuesday afternoon.
According to a report, Samad was fetched by his cousin from the Bicutan jail in Camp Bagong Diwa onboard a Honda Alpha motorcycle.
Upon reaching Barangay 176 in Bagong Silang, two unidentified men riding a motorcycle blocked their path and shot the victim several times, killing him on the spot.
The assailants then fled towards San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
Samad was supposed to spend the night in Caloocan before leaving for Mindanao the next day, police learned.
Police Inspector Ronald Battala said investigators are still validating if the victim was the notorious gang leader who was previously arrested in 2012 and 2014.
According to police, a certain Datukan Samad, alias Commander Lastikman, is an ethnic Maguindanaoan from Pikit, North Cotabato. He became one of Mindanao’s most wanted fugitives and was known for drug trafficking, murder, kidnapping, and robbery.
Between 2012 and 2013, he escaped from Maguindanao provincial jail and Kidapawan city jail. He was recaptured in 2014 in Tacurong City. (Minka Tiangco)
