Police investigators are pursuing leads against four armed suspects who stabbed dead a fare collector, and robbed about 20 passengers of a Ceres Liner bus Monday night in Manapla, Negros Occidental.

Inspector Julius Ceasar Colado, Manapla police chief, yesterday raised the possibility that the suspects are members of a gang, which is also behind some petty crimes in the town and  neighboring areas.

Colado, however, said he is not discounting the possibility that the suspects may be the same persons behind the robbery-hold-up incidents in Silay and Victorias cities, with two hacienda overseers as victims.

The highway robbery at Hacienda Lourdes in Brgy. Punta Mesa, Manapla, claimed the life of Ricardo Despi, a fare collector of the Ceres Liner bus, who was also robbed of about P9,000 in cash collections, while the bus driver, Roger Montecillo, was mauled by the armed suspects, who were reported to be in their 20s.

Colado said the bus passengers, two of whom were slightly injured by glass splinters, and a cut from a bladed weapon, were also divested of their personal belongings, including cellular phones, and still undetermined amount of cash.

The robbers were reportedly armed with a revolver, a homemade shotgun – locally known as “sulpak”, and bladed weapons, and their faces were covered with handkerchiefs. They fired twice, before leaving the bus, a police report  showed.

Colado said they are now coordinating with police investigators of Silay and Victorias, and pursuit operations are still ongoing, in coordination with the 6th Regional Public Safety Battalion.

Senior Supt. Allan Guisihan, provincial police director of Negros Occidental, said they are exhausting their best efforts to identify the suspects.

Guisihan said he had expected an increase of crimes against person and property in the province because of the “lean months”.*GPB

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