Westmincom: Cadaver of Indonesian Abu Sayyaf captive found

COTABATO CITY --- Soldiers found Tuesday a cadaver of an Indonesian seafarer kidnapped by Abu Sayyaf gunmen in the sea border of Tawi-Tawi and Sabah, Malaysia long ago.

Reports reaching the capitol of the Bangsamoro regional government here Thursday stated that the human remains were recovered by personnel of the Army’s 45^th Infantry Battalion somewhere in Barangay Maligay in Patikul town in Sulu.

Sulu is a component province of the Bangsamoro region.

The Sulu provincial police office and the military’s Western Mindanao Command are now together trying to validate the exact identity of the dead person whom local residents believe could be the Abu Sayyaf’s Indonesian captive.

Police probers said there are indications that the victim was shot by his captors when they figured in an encounter with a pursuing Army team dispatched to check on the presence of gunmen in Barangay Maligay with a foreigner in tow.

In a statement Thursday, the Police Regional Office-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region said officials, police and military intelligence agents are now cooperating in identifying the slain kidnap victim.