By BOY RYAN B. ZABAL
KALIBO, Aklan — Police will investigate an alleged case of police brutality against a drug suspect in this capital town.
Regie Rose, 27, of Barangay Cogon, Lezo town claimed that he was beaten up by provincial anti-drug operatives and Kalibo police station personnel.
Senior Supt. Samuel Nacion, provincial police chief, stressed that he will not tolerate any form of abuse by policemen against civilians.
Personnel of Provincial Anti-Illegal Drugs Special Operations Task Group and Kalibo police station collared Rose in a buy-bust operation at about 1 a.m. on Sunday at a wake in Barangay Tigayon.
He sold to a poseur buyer a sachet of suspected shabu for P1,000. Twelve more sachets of shabu were recovered from him.
Rose claimed that four arresting officers restrained and repeatedly punched him. He was confined in the provincial hospital here.
“Reports reaching me said the suspect resisted arrest, prompting the police to pin him to the ground,” Nacion said. “He also tried to escape.”
Nacion said they will coordinate with the Provincial Intelligence and Investigation Branch and Provincial Internal Affairs Office in the investigation.
All policemen involved in the buy-bust operation will be investigated, he said.
Photos of Rose — handcuffed, with face swollen and T-shirt stained with blood — made rounds on the social networking site, Facebook.
“Among the 53 anti-drug operations conducted by the Aklan Police Provincial Office (so far) this year, this was the first alleged case of police brutality,” Nacion said.
He said that, for now, they cannot say with finality what really transpired during the suspect’s arrest. (Aklan Forum Journal/PN)
