By Edwin Fernandez
COTABATO CITY – A police officer wanted for his alleged involvement in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre was arrested in Parang, Maguindanao del Norte, on Monday afternoon.
Col. Eleuterio Ricardo Jr., acting Maguindanao del Norte police provincial director, lauded the successful and peaceful arrest of Police Officer 1 Datunot Kadir, 48.
“Police authorities were alerted of his whereabouts following a tip from a concerned citizen and an appeal from his relatives for his peaceful surrender,” Ricardo said in a statement Tuesday.
Kadir did not resist when law enforcement officers presented him with an arrest warrant issued by Regional Trial Court Branch 221 in Quezon City. He was apprehended at a relative’s house in Barangay Making, Parang town.
A resident of Datu Abdullah Sangki, Maguindanao del Norte, Kadir was visiting his relative in the village at the time of his arrest.
The government offered a PHP250,000 reward for information leading to his capture.
Kadir was among those charged with 56 counts of murder in connection with the Maguindanao massacre in Sitio Masalay, Barangay Salman, Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur, in November 2009. The massacre left 58 people dead, including 32 media practitioners. (PNA)
