August 31, 2012, SunstarZamboanga, Police: Abu Sayyaf bandit, 3 others behind bus bombing, by Bong Garcia,

August 31, 2012, SunstarZamboanga, Police: Abu Sayyaf bandit, 3 others behind bus bombing, by Bong Garcia,

The Zamboanga City Police Office (ZCPO) filed criminal charges against four people, including an Abu Sayyaf bandit and a woman, tagged as responsible in the bomb attack on a passenger bus two weeks ago in the city.

Six people, including a two-year-old boy, were injured when an improvised bomb ripped through the rear portion of the Rural Transit Management, Inc. (RTMI) passenger bus while it was approaching the terminal in the village of Guiwan, 3.4 kilometers east of the city, in the evening of August 16.

The ZCPO said charges of multiple frustrated murders were filed before the city prosecutor’s office on Tuesday after the suspects’ identities were established.

Three of the four suspects were identified as May Limaya alias May-May, a certain Toto, and a certain Hud Limaya, an alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf group.

They were identified by witnesses through the pictures shown to them at the rouge gallery of the ZCPO.

The witnesses told the police that the four suspects were the ones who boarded the bus along the highway in the village of Culianan, east of the city.

The bus was traveling from Pagadian City, the capital of Zamboanga del Sur, en route to Zamboanga City when the improvised bomb went off as it was approaching the terminal.

When the bomb exploded, the suspects were no longer aboard as they disembarked in front of a shopping mall in the village of Putik, east of this city, which is several hundred meters away from the bus terminal.

The Police are conducting a manhunt operation to arrest the suspects who are all still at large. LINK: