7 hurt in Quezon City blast

MANILA, Philippines - Four policemen and three barangay personnel were wounded in a grenade blast at a Muslim compound in Quezon City at past midnight yesterday.

Still unidentified assailants threw a hand grenade at the victims, who were preparing to patrol the Al Salaam Mosque Compound in Barangay Culiat at around 12:42 a.m.

The wounded lawmen were identified as PO3 Jaalin Abdujarik, 43; PO2 Abdulwarid Julaid, 48; SPO1 Romeo Aming, 46; and retired SPO4 Sala Uddin, all residents of Barangay Culiat.

Also hurt were Khadafi Udhan, 36; Alex Taluyan, 38; and Junrey Tioc, 26, all volunteer barangay public safety officers.

The victims were first brought to the Malvar General Hospital for medical treatment.

Abdujarik and Julaid remain confined at the PNP General Hospital in Camp Crame while Tioc is still at the East Avenue Medical Center.

The four others were discharged from the hospital.

Investigation showed that the seven were preparing to conduct Oplan Sita in the area when the assailants stopped near them along Tandang Sora Avenue and hurled the grenade.

Retaliation

Senior Superintendent Guillermo Eleazar, Quezon City Police District (QCPD) director, said drug syndicates could be behind the attack after 217 suspects were arrested during raids on drug dens in the area last Aug. 31 and Sept. 16.

Alleged suppliers Hadjirul Abraham, alias Alag Uddin, and Juraid Sahiddun, an alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf bandit group, were arrested in their homes during the raids.

Talipapa police station commander Superintendent Danilo Mendoza said the illegal drug trade in the compound declined since the QCPD started its anti-drug campaign.

The QCPD has also detailed police officers to man the compound’s two main entry gates and this has affected the drug “tiangge” or flea market that previously thrived in the area, he added.

Bomb scare

Meanwhile, classes were disrupted at Letran College in Intramuros, Manila yesterday morning after a student assistant received a call at around 11:33 a.m. that a bomb was about to explode in the campus.

One of the staff, who asked not to be named, told The STAR the caller was a “female who was imitating a male voice.”

Explosives experts found no bomb in the campus.