Police authorities are hot on the trail of a six man group of robbers whose leader engaged city police in a shoot-out yesterday, Wednesday, April 27, 2016 at 4:30 PM after a daring morning heist pulled off right at center of the tourist district in the municipality of Panglao.
Alberto Torrejas, the alleged leader of a band of robbers implicated in a series of robberies and rub-outs was shot dead in a hail of bullets from a police team that tracked his safe house in Upper Cogon, Tagbilaran City.
The armed men identified through closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras barged into an electronic bingo joint and pulled off a daring break-in carting away an estimated P300,000.
According to initial police investigation based on CCTV footages, only three men entered the bingo joint and disarmed the lone security guard before pointing their guns at the terrified employees. The three other suspects acted as lookouts and were positioned outside the establishment.
It was all over in 2 minutes after Torrejas and his two companions ransacked the office and took the P300,000 loot and the six robbers took off in two motorcycles.
The loot was nowhere in the possession of Torrejas and is believed to be with the five companions that peeled away to confuse the police.
The mid-morning robbery that took place at the Bingo establishment located a few meters from a tourist police outpost and nearby hotels and restaurants.
Panglao Police Chief Police Senior Inspector Joemar Pomarejos responded to the burglary alarm together with the Panglao Tourist Police and found that the armed robbers barged into the bingo joint without fear of being identified.
Tagbilaran City Police Chief, Police Superintendent (PSupt) George Vale told DYRD Balita that hot pursuit operations were conducted by elements of the Intelligence Group of the Tagbilaran City Police Station after receiving a tip from the Panglao Police Station about a group of armed men racing towards the city on board motorcycles.
Torrejas and his men have been implicated in a series of robberies done in a spur of the moment decisions as the group cruised the city streets eyeing business establishments that suit their fancy.
According to Vale, the group is also involved in the illegal drug trade and was tagged as the prime suspect in an underworld rub-out in the vicinity at the Dao Central Market that claimed the lives of two innocent passersby. (Chito M. Visarra with reports from Allen Doydora and Rey Tutas)