3 Abu Sayyaf men fall in joint anti-terror ops

In a statement Wednesday, NBI officer-in-charge (OIC) Eric Distor said that suspects Saudi Ausad aka “Ben Saudi”, Ajvier Kuhutan aka “Jaber”, and his older brother, Adzmi Kuhutan aka “Osein” and “Abduraya”, were involved in the kidnapping of six members of a Christian religious sect in Patikul, Sulu on August 20, 2002. (Photo: NBI via PNA)

MANILA – Three members of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) were arrested in separate operations conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), together with police and military units last week.

In a statement Wednesday, NBI officer-in-charge (OIC) Eric Distor said that suspects Saudi Ausad aka “Ben Saudi”, Ajvier Kuhutan aka “Jaber”, and his older brother, Adzmi Kuhutan aka “Osein” and “Abduraya”, were involved in the kidnapping of six members of a Christian religious sect in Patikul, Sulu on August 20, 2002.

The suspects have an outstanding arrest warrant issued by the Taguig City Regional Trial Court Branch 271) for kidnapping and serious illegal detention.

The NBI said a witness under the DOJ-Witness Protection Program helped identify the suspects as the abductors from photos.

At around 2 p.m. on July 17, Ausad was arrested by the NBI Counter-Terrorism Division and joint police and military operatives at Sultan Kudarat Street, Maharlika, Taguig City.

Meanwhile, Jaber was arrested at Craig St., Sampaloc Manila on July 20.

A day after his arrest, Jaber’s relatives arrived at the NBI office to verify the cause of his arrest and claim his personal belongings. One of the relatives was Adzmi.

Adzmi was shown a copy of the witness/complainant’s statement and admitted he is Osein based on a photo shown by authorities which led to his arrest.

Distor said the arrested ASG members who are now under the custody of the NBI are awaiting transfer to the Special Intensive Care Area (SICA) of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Taguig City.