Nueva Vizcaya not spared from ‘Indian mafia’

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya – The recent death of an Indian trader in this northern town has spurred the local police to dig deeper into cases involving crimes against Indian nationals in the province. The latest murder victim, a 37-year-old Indian woman identified as Harbender Kaur, better known here as “Magar," was gunned down Wednesday morning while she was entering the gate to their house. Magar, who was with her husband when she was killed, had just finished her round collecting payments from their money lending business. The motive for the killing has not yet been established by the police pending further investigation but robbery was ruled out since nothing was taken from the victim. Investigators said they were looking into the possibility that Magar was killed by a syndicate ran by Indians allegedly involved in kidnap-for-ransom (KFR) and extortion activities against their own compatriots. Magar was the younger sister of Bender Singh, who was assassinated two years ago by masked men while inside a cockpit arena in this town, police said. “It is possible that there are syndicates run by Indians here or elsewhere in the Philippines, but we still have to confirm where their base of operations are or if they really exist," said Inspector Noel Aliño, head of the Nueva Vizcaya police district’s Criminal Investigation and Detective Group (CIDG). “We need more time to investigate and we need more proofs linking the crimes to the so called Indian mafia.," he added. Early last year, an Indian businessman from Solano town survived an attack when unidentified men threw a grenade inside the compound of his house. The victim, who asked not to be named for security reasons, suspects that a business rival who is also of Indian descent was behind the attempt on his life. Last month, an Indian was kidnapped in Tarlac province and was brought to Bayombong while members of the syndicate were negotiating for a 10-million-peso ransom with the victim’s family. The kidnapped victim was later rescued by Nueva Vizcaya police and was identified as Harjinder Singh, 34, a businessman based in Angeles City, Pampanga. The masterminds in the kidnapping are still unknown but three of the suspects in the abduction were arrested while two escaped. All were Filipinos. Late last year, a child of an Indian couple who was kidnapped in the Ilocos Region was also kept in Bayombong by the abductors. The child’s mangled body was later found in a remote village in Solano after the parents failed to raise the ransom money. Superintendent Domingo Lucas, former officer-in-charge of the provincial police said that they will look into reports that some people from the province might be involved. For his part, newly installed police provincial director Senior Superintendent Pedro Danguilan said, “We will dig deeper into these kind of crimes, if the Kaur case will be solved, I’m sure there will be a domino effect, other crimes of the same nature involving Indians will also be solved." There are other crimes in the province that police said are likely to have links with the so-called Indian mafia but so far these cases are stalled for lack of cooperation from the victim’s family. One of the stalled cases involved a former barangay captain from Bayombong who was gunned down last April by two motorcycle riding men. Police intelligence operatives said that the victim may have ties with an Indian underground group but they have yet to confirm the reports. According to an article from the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), the Philippine police agree with some Indian nationals that the killings may have been masterminded by fellow Indians against business rivals. The Indian government itself says that some Indians have joined the ranks of Chinese and Filipinos involved in kidnapping and extortion, but Filipinos are also behind several of the attacks. Police records show that kidnappings of Indians involve ransoms ranging from P60,000 to P200,000; in one case in nearby Isabela province, the ransom reached P2 million. According to the police, most of the abductions were of Indians who are into the money lending business. - GMANews.TV