2 alleged Abu Sayyaf members arrested in Pasay

The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) has arrested two alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf Group wanted in connection with a 2002 kidnapping case. 

Agents arrested one Jamar Ibi alias "Bas" on October 12 and one Raden Jamil alias "Tamiya" on October 19, both in Pasay City, on the strength of a court-issued arrest warrant for kidnapping and serious illegal detention with ransom, the NBI said Tuesday. 

The criminal case is over the abduction of six members of the Jehovah's Witnesses by alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf in Patikul, Sulu on August 20, 2002. 

The arrest followed a series of casing and surveillance operations by the NBI and the military stemming from information received by the NBI's Counterterrorism Division (CTD) that some Abu Sayyaf members were seen in Pasay City, the NBI said. 

The bureau said Ibi and Jamil were identified by a witness from a photo lineup.

Both men are detained at the NBI Detention Facility in Manila. 

NBI officer-in-charge Eric Distor said operatives have arrested five alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf Group this year.

Authorities have arrested several people in connection with the kidnapping in past years. In 2013, the Department of Justice ordered the release of 18 alleged Abu Sayyaf men for lack of evidence that they were part of the abduction. —KG, GMA News