TAGUM CITY -- Police are readying charges against 11 soldiers for alleged obstruction of justice even as local authorities called for a deeper investigation into shooting incidents in Sto. Tomas town in Davao del Norte on Tuesday that left at least four people dead.

Senior Superintendent Jose Pante, provincial police chief, said members of the Army?s 60th and 72nd Infantry Battalions would be investigated to determine their possible role in the carnage along Feeder Road 3, Barangay (village) Tibal-og at past 9 a.m., after armed men reportedly tampered with evidence at the crime scene and removed the body of one fatality.

Killed were Police Officer 1 Fritz Rasonabe, assigned to the 1108th provincial mobile group in Panabo City; Corporal Arnold Toriano, detailed at the intelligence section of the 72nd Infantry Battalion; Arnel Consinsino, a council member of Barangay Palma Gil, Talaingod town, also in Davao del Norte, and an unidentified resident of Davao City.

Consinsino?s truck helper was seriously wounded and brought to the hospital.

Governor Rodolfo del Rosario called the shooting ?very unfortunate.?

?It might send a wrong signal [to the public] that it was a police-military encounter. I am urging the police and the Army to thresh out whatever problem the incident could result into,? Del Rosario told reporters on Tuesday. He echoed calls by civilian leaders for an investigations.

?Sketchy? details

Pante said details were ?still sketchy.? He said probers were still gathering witnesses and other pieces of evidence for them ?to come up with a clearer picture.?

He said the police could not yet determine if it was Toriano who shot Consinsino and his helper.

According to witness and police accounts, Consinsino, who was also engaged in logging, and his helper were fired at by several near an establishment in Sto. Tomas town proper.

Rasonabe, who had just left the municipal police station after processing the documents of a policeman-uncle who had also been gunned down weeks ago, responded upon hearing the burst of gunfire. He was reportedly shot dead by Toriano.

Pante said Toriano was killed by responding policemen after he tried to flee with a companion on a motorcycle.

?He (Toriano) even lobbed a grenade at the approaching police mobile cab, damaging a part of the vehicle,? Pante said.

?We want to clarify though that until now, we have yet to ascertain who really shot the village councilor and his companion,? Pante said.

The irregularity happened after a group of soldiers insisted on taking the body of Toriano despite the protests of policemen guarding the crime scene, Pante said.

The soldiers were able to remove the slain soldier?s body and other pieces of evidence.

?It was as if those soldiers did not respect the police and us, civil leaders,? Vice Mayor Daniel Lu said.

Lu said many residents expressed alarm and fear, and had asked for an ?overhaul? of the 72nd IB.

Despite what happened, Pante said coordination and cooperation between the police and the army against the communist threat would continue.

He said that this was just an ?isolated incident? and meant nothing as relations between the two government defense organizations had been warm.

Release

Pante on Tuesday ordered that the 11 soldiers be placed in custody for investigation, but they were released later after meeting one of their officers, Lieutenant Heriberto Sangalang.

Sangalang was Toriano?s immediate superior.

Lieutenant Colonel Victor Tan, commanding officer of the 72nd IB, confirmed on Wednesday that it was Sangalang who led the group of armed men who took Toriano?s body.

He said he has placed Sangalang under investigation and had restricted the junior officer to camp.

He confirmed that Sangalang was among the 11 soldiers being investigated by the Davao del Norte police.

A police source said 10 of those who could be charged were soldiers from the 60th IB.

?We leave it to the PNP [Philippine National Police] to investigate,? Tan said, adding that Sangalang and Toriano ?acted on their personal capacities and not because of a sanction from the battalion? or from any other high-ranking officers. Frinston Lim, Inquirer Mindanao