BACOLOD CITY – The police here are probing the possibility that the killers of a man who was lethally stabbed in the village of Banago mistook him as an anti-drug intelligence asset.
Lt. Col. Levy Pangue, newly-assigned chief of Station 3, told DNX the 20 January death of Arsenio Eslopor Jr. in the sub-village of Paraiso, in Sibucao, Banago village could have been a case of mistaken identity related to illegal drugs.
Eslopor, 35, grew up in Banago but was living in the village of Pahanocoy when he was killed.
Pangue said he was visiting his brother when he was murdered.
An unknown killer, highly skilled with a knife stabbed him only once on the thorax, indicating that the killer knows where the sensitive organs are located, a prober who asked not to be named told DNX.
“It was a surgical strike, one that ensured the victim can be killed swiftly and efficiently even in a crowded area,” he explained.
Even while police forensic experts have yet to release their findings, the officer said based on Station 3 reports, residents found Eslopor was found staggering for help.
They did not see signs that he was stabbed but a doctor at a government-run hospital where he was rushed to declared him dead upon arrival.
Photos furnished DNX by the police showed only a small pool of blood collecting around the center of the victim’s chest, around the stab wound.
The police blotter of the incident also reported “during the conduct of investigation on the place, the citizens are (sic) uncooperative and no CCTV on the area.”
Banago, a highly-populated area with many residents living in poverty, last year topped the list of villages here with shabu confiscation, data from the local police showed.
