BACOLOD CITY – The Negros Oriental Police Provincial Office (Norppo) is looking into the possibility that the Special Partisan Unit (Sparu) of the New People’s Army (NPA) might be behind the murder of a policeman in San Jose town last Tuesday.
Col. Julian Entoma, Negros Oriental police director, said that they do not discount such possibility because the province is not yet insurgency-free.
“Hindi kasi maiwasan na out of nowhere, biglang titira sila sa mga soft targets,” he said, though there has been no confirmation yet about the link of the Sparu to the killing of Police Executive Master Sergeant Roldan Esmajer, 47, of Barangay Tapon Norte B.
Esmajer, who was an anti-drug operative assigned to San Jose Municipal Police Station, was riding his motorcycle on his way to the police station when he was tailed by two unidentified motorcycle-riding suspects.
“He was shot at close range. Tinapos talaga siya,” Entoma said, adding that the perpetrators may have other companions as lookouts during the attack.
Entoma said they have yet to establish the motive but they are also eyeing two more possible angles behind the killing.
He said they are also looking into work-related since Esmajer was assigned as an anti-drug operative for 15 years.
Police also do not discount the possibility that the murder has also something to do with the personal life of the policeman, though he has no bad record in the police service, Entoma said.
He said they will also check if he had threats prior to the incident.
He said they have a copy of a closed circuit television (CCTV) camera footage, but the faces of the perpetrators could hardly be seen. (Glazyl Masculino)
