All 5 Nueva Ecija cops in kidnap-slay case detained

Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo T. Eleazar. INQUIRER file photo / Niño Jesus Orbeta

All five policemen believed to be involved in the kidnapping and killing of an online jewelry seller Nadia Casar are in police custody and are awaiting criminal prosecution, said Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the Philippine National Police, on Friday.

Aside from the five cops from different units of the Nueva Ecija police, two civilians were also tagged in the case after a witness identified them.

Police Master Sgt. Rowen Martin, assigned at Cabanatuan City Police Station, and Police Drextemir Esmundo of Cabiao Municipal Police Station were under restrictive custody of their respective chiefs of police.

Agents of the PNP Anti-Kidnapping Group (AKG) earlier arrested Police Staff Sgt. Benedict Matias Reyes assigned at Sta. Rosa Municipal Police Station; Police Staff Sgt. June Malillin of the Palayan City Police Station; and Police Cpl. Julius Alcantara of Nueva Ecija Provincial Police Office Drug Enforcement Unit; and civilian Dario Robarios.

But the other civilian, Franklin Macapagal, remained at large.

Eleazar also directed the PNP Internal Affairs Service to initiate summary dismissal proceedings against the five cops and ordered the AKG and the Integrity Monitoring and Enforcement Group —PNP’s antiscalawag unit—to hunt down Macapagal.

Eleazar assured Casar’s family that justice would be delivered to them, saying he would personally monitor the case.

According to the AKG, Casar, 35, and a Grab driver she hired were abducted by the policemen around 1:45 p.m. on July 20 in Barangay Tagpos in Sta. Rosa, Nueva Ecija, right after meeting up with Macapagal for a business transaction.

They were brought to the kidnappers’ safe house at a farm in Sitio Pinagpala, Barangay Imelda Valley, in Palayan City.

The driver was robbed of his phone and P4,500 cash, but was released by his kidnappers around 3 a.m. on July 21.

He told the police he overheard one of the suspects instructing Casar to inform her family to pay a huge ransom for her release. Casar’s family reported the incident to the AKG.

The Grab driver was able to identify Reyes, one of their abductors, after seeing a group photo of police officers inside the Sta. Rosa police station.