PNP to probe Laguna police operation that led to deaths of drug suspect, 16-year-old boy

Laguna intel chief, nine other cops placed under restrictive custody

(Eagle News)– The Philippine National Police is probing the police operation that saw a drug suspect and a 16-year-old boy killed in Binan, Laguna on Wednesday, June 16.

In a statement, the PNP said the Internal Affairs Service has been tasked to look into whether police operational procedures were followed in the incident that saw the 16-year-old  and  drug suspect Antonio Castillo Dalit dead.

PRO4-A Director PBGen Eliseo DC Cruz has also directed the Regional Investigation and Detective Management Division (RIDMD) to lead a fact-finding task group.

“Bukas po ang ating IAS sa anumang salaysay na makapaglalahad ng katotohanan sa insidenteng ito,” PNP Chief Guillermo Eleazar said.

The Laguna Provincial IAS and the Calabarzon Regional IAS investigators personally spoke on Friday, June 18 to the relatives of Maglinte and Dalit to get their affidavits of complaint but they said they were not ready to give statements.

The investigators gave them contact numbers through which the teenager’s and drug suspect’s relatives could reach out.

So far, Cruz ordered Police Intelligence Unit (PIU) Laguna head PCPT Fernando Credo and nine others involved in the incident to be placed under restrictive custody of the PRO4A.

All policemen involved in the operations were subjected to paraffin testing and ballistics examination were conducted on their firearms.

The bodies have been  autopsied and also subjected to paraffin testing.

Police operatives have claimed that the teenager and Dalit, the target of the operation who is included in Laguna’s ten most wanted, fought back while they were serving an arrest warrant against him.

However the teenager’s family alleged that he and the drug suspect were executed by the policemen.

“I have already instructed the RD of PRO-CALABARZON and IAS to finish the investigation in the soonest possible time and in the meantime, I ask our kababayans to let the investigations take their course,” the PNP Chief said.