Captive cop released by NPA in Isabela
Ilagan City — A police officer held captive for three days in the mountains by communist rebels, underwent stress debriefing on Monday, August 20, after he was freed in far-flung Sindon Bayabo village on Saturday night, August 18, police said.
Police Officer 2 Danny Maur, a member of the Ilagan police office, was taken by the Reynaldo Piñon Command of the New People’s Army to an undetermined location in the Sierra Madre mountains, said Senior Inspector Frances Littaua, Isabela police spokesperson.
Maur is a member of an environmental team manning a checkpoint that was accosted by armed men on August 15.
The following day, the rebels clashed with soldiers of the Army’s 95th Infantry Battalion, deployed to track down the group that harassed and disarmed the environmental team.
A policeman and a suspected rebel were killed in the encounter but neither the police nor the military released information about Maur’s capture.
The NPA took credit for disarming the checkpoint personnel, blaming them for coddling illegal loggers.
Maur was released at 8:30 p.m. on August 18 to his cousin Junjun Maur and nephew Juan Maurforce, at the suggestion of Ilagan Vice Mayor Vedasto Villanueva.
Maur’s wife received a letter indicating where and when the policeman was to be released but Villanueva decided against proceeding there himself.
The vice mayor denied speculation he negotiated with the communist guerrillas for Maur’s release.
Maur was temporarily assigned at the Isabela provincial police office to allow him to recover for his trauma, Littaua said. INQ
