3 arrested in Tacurong bomb blast

Policemen inspect a tricycle hit by an explosion in Tacurong City. TACURONG CITY PNP

TACURONG CITY — Police arrested at least three suspects in a bomb blast that hit a tricycle here, killed two persons and wounded 17 others on New Year’s Eve.

Chief Supt. Marcelo Morales, Central Mindanao police director, met on Tuesday with local police officials and created a special task force to hasten the investigation.

Witnesses told investigators that the tricycle being driven by Dominador Datahan, a resident here, was parked in front of a videoke bar at Barangay Buenaflor when the blast happened, contrary to earlier police reports that it was cruising toward Isulan town in Sultan Kudarat province, some 11 kilometers from here.

Police said Datahan and his passengers Aladin Laguiab and Ali Suharto pulled over outside the bar at 11:05 p.m. on Sunday when the improvised explosive device went off.

Senior Supt. Raul Supiter, Sultan Kudarat police chief, said investigators concluded that the bomb exploded inside the tricycle.

Datahan and Suharto (not Laguiab as earlier reported) died in what Supiter described as a “premature” explosion. Laguiab and 16 people preparing for the New Year revelry outside the bar were wounded.

Supiter confirmed that the police arrested three suspects but declined to name them.

He said two of the suspects were wounded in the blast and were taken into custody on Monday after witnesses identified them as behind the explosion.

The third suspect, he said, was arrested on Wednesday.

Supiter said police would file multiple murder, frustrated murder and illegal possession of explosives charges against the suspects.

Morales said investigators were checking if the bar was the actual target of the bombing.

When asked whether members of the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters were behind the bombing, Supiter said: “Possibly. We are digging deeper.”

Aside from terrorism, police were also looking at a personal grudge involving the bar owner and the suspects as a possible motive in the bombing. —EDWIN FERNANDEZ