Comelec-Maguindanao personnel slain in Cotabato City

COTABATO CITY––An employee of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Maguindanao was shot dead Tuesday in this city by unidentified gunmen.

Capt. Rustom Pastolero, Cotabato City police station 2 chief, identified the victim as Jonathan Pagadas Ganta, 43, of Purok Balabaran, Barangay Rosary Heights 10.

Initial investigation showed that Ganta, who had just celebrated Amun Jadid (Islamic New Year), was playing chess with a friend in a waiting shed near his home, when the suspects arrived on a motorbike around 8:45 a.m. and opened fire.

Ganta was hit in the head and body and died while undergoing medication at the Cotabato Regional and Medical Center.

A tricycle driver, Guiamad Akmad, 16, was injured after being hit by a stray bullet.

Police investigators found empty shells for an M-16 Armalite rifle.

Pastolero said a personal grudge could have triggered the attack.

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