MANILA, Philippines ? (UPDATE) A businessman was taken by at least 15 armed men in Mulondo, Lanao del Sur, late Monday night, police said on Wednesday.

The abduction of Sambolayan Bamrang Macapanton, 29, happened a few hours before suspected Abu Sayyaf members raided a saw mill in Maluso, Basilan and seized four men early Tuesday.

Unlike the kidnapping in Basilan, Philippine National Police Chief Jesus Verzosa said Macapanton?s abduction was not linked to any organized armed group in the restive Mindanao island.

Verzosa said a certain Jamal Pangandag led the group, which took the victim.

?Our initial police investigation showed that the victim owed a considerable amount of money to several individuals. It?s possible that his abduction was business-related,? he told the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

?The leader of the abductors was not affiliated with any armed groups in the area,? he said.

Chief Supt. Paisal Umpa, chief of the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, said the victim was on his way to Marawi City on board a passenger jeep around 7 p.m. when armed men flagged down the vehicle along the national road of Mulondo town.

?At gunpoint, (the group) forcibly took the victim and fled in an unknown direction,? Umpa said in his report to Verzosa.

Interior Secretary Ronaldo Puno said witnesses disclosed that Macapanton personally knew his abductors.

?Apparently, the victim had debts which he failed to settle with Pangandag,? he said in a mobile phone interview.

Puno said he instructed local officials of Lanao del Sur to form a crisis management committee to negotiate for the safe and unconditional release of the victim.