A member of a notorious gun-for-hire group was killed in a shootout with police in Tondo, Manila, Monday afternoon.
Police said the fatality, Adonis Mendoza Caputalan, 30, was member of the Sputnik Gang as well as the notorious group of Joshua Bahar tagged in contract killings, robbery incidents, drug distribution, and bomb throwing at police precincts in Tondo.
The skirmish between the police and Bahar’s group broke out at around 3 p.m. on Monday at Building 33, Aroma Temporary Housing Compound, Barangay 105 when the latter fired a gun at the cops during a follow-up operation, according to Police Lieutenant Colonel Reynaldo Magdaluyo, Manila Police Station (MPS) 1 commander.
Mendoza went up to the second floor where his house is located. However, he was cornered at Unit 80 where he was shot dead.
Bahar, on the other hand, sustained a gunshot wound in the left knee, but he managed to escape along with his two other cohorts.
Police recovered from Caputalan two .45-caliber pistols, two .38-caliber revolvers, an MK2 military type fragmentation hand grenade, two sets of police uniform bearing the logos of National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) and MPD, and three small sachets of shabu.
“Joshua Bahar’s group is most likely the one responsible for the grenades left under the bridge in Tondo in February,” Magdaluyo said.
In an interview, Caputalan’s sister Madelyn admitted his illegal activity.
“Lagi namin siyang sinasabihan [na] ‘wag magbabarkada, umuwi na lang ng probinsya kasi yung pangalan ng tao [Bahar] hinahanap…nadadamay siya,” she said.
Police Brigadier General Vicente Danao, Jr., MPD director, urged their family to cooperate with them.
A hot pursuit against Bahar, the most wanted person of MPD Station 1, continues, authorities said. (Ria Fernandez)
