Police arrest D’bantayan New Year shooter

THE region-wide dragnet against the New Year shooter in Daanbantayan netted Berly Tudtud in Sagay City, Negros Occidental yesterday.

Tudtud is the suspect in the killing of three and the robbery of the First Agro-industrial Rural Bank (FairBank) in Daanbantayan around midnight of Dec. 31.

Cebu Police Provincial Director Sr. Supt. Noel Gillamac said the arrest was made at 12:14 noon, after Provincial Intelligence, Special Operations Group Branch led by Police Sr. Inspector Wilson Abot and Sagay City police conducted a joint hot pursuit operation.

Recovered from Tudtud’s possession was a hand grenade. He was arrested in sitio Gamboa, barangay Tadlong, Sagay City.

The former security guard of FairBank is facing multiple homicide for killing bank accounting clerk Jenelyn Megabon, security guard Dean Deserto, and Cecilia Torres, Deserto’s live-in partner. He is also accused of robbing FairBank P80,000.

Megabon was doing overtime work in the bank, while Torres decided to spend New Year’s eve with Deserto who was on duty. All of them bore gunshot wounds in their heads.

Witnesses heard a woman saying “Ayaw Ber”, before gunshots rang out, which they initially took to be firecracker blasts.

Investigation showed that Tudtud had a grudge against Megabon who reported to the bank’s management his unauthorized long-distance phone calls that resulted in exorbitant telephone bills. He was eventually dismissed last Dec. 31.

He is now in the custody of the SOG-CPPO.

Gillamac organized tracker teams to conduct hot pursuit operations on Tudtud last Friday. /Fe Marie D. Dumaboc, Correspondent