Cops rescue abducted woman in Zamboanga Sibugay

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines - Police authorities rescued a university female teacher abducted by two suspects Wednesday noon in Buug, Zamboanga Sibugay, police said.

Chief Superintendent Edgar Basbas, director of Police Regional Office 9, said the police forces also arrested the two male suspects in the checkpoint set up in the nearby town of Tigbao following an hour of pursuit operation.

Basbas said the suspects seized Hanefa Sarifa, 21, single and teacher at the Mindanao State University (MSU) extension based in Buug, in a used clothes shop at Barangay Poblacion.

The suspects forced their victim into a getaway gray Toyota Innova vehicle with a commemorative plate marked NBI 75 that sped off toward the direction of Pagadian City.

Basbas said police elements of Buug station immediately launched a hot pursuit and raised the alarm to all police units along the direction including those in the nearby provinces to intercept the suspects and rescue the victim.

“The police unit in Tigbao town intercepted the vehicle of the suspects and rescued the victim after and hour,” Basbas told newsmen.

Basbas said initial investigation showed the motive of the abduction was not kidnap for ransom and believed to be “abduction for love.”

Police disclosed that one of the suspects was believed to be a suitor who was turned down by the victim.