‘Hitman’ shot dead in Sarangani

GENERAL SANTOS CITY -- An alleged member of a gun-for-hire group operating in Sarangani province and this city was gunned down by his own companions in a village in Glan town on Friday night.

Lt. Col. Neil Wadingan, chief of Glan municipal police station, identified the victim as Al Sadam Saybel Arajan, who works as a tricycle driver in the area but reportedly hails from Maasim town.

He said Arajan was driving his tricycle at a portion of Purok Basak in Barangay Tapon around 7:30 p.m. when he was waylaid by two motorcycle-riding suspects.

The police official said the victim was declared dead upon arrival at the municipal hospital due to multiple gunshot wounds from a .45-caliber handgun.

“The suspects, who were reportedly tailing the victim, suddenly came closer and fired at him,” Wadingan said in a report released late Saturday afternoon.

Citing accounts from witnesses, he said the gunmen fled from the scene aboard a Honda TMX motax

torcycle with no license plate and were last seen heading towards the direction of this city. Wadingan said responding police personnel found the victim wearing a black mask and still holding a bag. “They became suspicious since they found a loaded .45-caliber pistol with a silencer inside the bag,” he said. He said witnesses noted that Arajan appeared to have known his killers, who were believed to be his colleagues. Wadingan said they are currently looking into the victim’s activities through a cellphone recovered from his bag. He said they submitted the victim’s handgun to the Police Regional Office-12’s crime laboratory for cross-matching. “We’re considering several angles, including a possible double-cross for a failed job in the here,” he added.