Manhunt ordered for Caloocan bombers; police task force formed

Police officials ordered a massive manhunt for the group responsible for last Sunday’s robbery attempt at the Ever Gotesco Grand Central Mall in Caloocan City, where more than 44 people were wounded in two grenade blasts.

Caloocan City police chief Superintendent Benjardi Mantele reactivated a special task force to catch and arrest 15 suspected members of the "Martilyo Gang" believed to be responsible for the robbery and the hurling of two grenades in the mall.

As of press time, four of the blast victims were still in critical condition at the Manila Central University Hospital on EDSA in Caloocan.

Inspector Marcelo Mariano was tapped to head the special police task force, the group that had investigated a previous heist by the gang at the same store of the Caloocan mall in June 1999.

Two were arrested at the scene of the crime while three others were apprehended during follow-up operations.

Investigators claimed some members of the Martilyo Gang were out on bail and have since regrouped.

Superintendent Dionisio Borromeo, chief of the Caloocan police intelligence and investigation division, said the arrest of all those responsible could be made within the week after a blast victim was able to identify one of the suspects in a line-up.

The witness said he saw the suspect smash the glass showcase of the Seiko Jewelry Square on the third floor of the mall and then scoop up several pieces of jewelry.

The STAR is withholding the name of the suspect pending an investigation.

Sunday’s explosions partly damaged the packed third and ground floors of the Ever Gotesco Mall, and set off a stampede in which many of the victims were hurt. Security at shopping malls in Metro Manila has been tightened following the Caloocan blasts.

While authorities are not discounting the possibility the blasts were part of a destabilization effort against the Arroyo government, Caloocan police investigators are more inclined to believe it was a robbery attempt by members of the notorious Martilyo Gang.

The Martilyo Gang, which specialized in robbery of jewelry shops, got its name from its practice of smashing with a hammer the showcases of a store they were robbing.

Initial investigations showed that at least five members of the gang entered the Seiko Jewelry Square on the third floor of the mall, then smashed one of the showcases. To avoid being arrested, one of the suspects rolled a grenade as they fled.

The grenade exploded beside the Homework Hardware at 5:05 p.m., followed about one minute later by another grenade blast at the ground floor of the building where 10 other members of the robbery gang were believed to have positioned themselves as lookouts.

Investigators recovered from the blast site a safety pin, shrapnel and a grenade lever.

They said two MK-2 type grenades, which were standard military-issue, were used in the robbery. – With Jerry Botial, Non Alquitran