QCPD nabs high-profile robbery suspect

The Quezon City Police District (QCPD) reported Tuesday that criminal charges have been filed against one of four suspects involved in the robbery of an Indian national last month after police successfully tracked him down through online surveillance.

QCPD acting director P/Col. Randy Glenn Silvio said Al Farouk Bantuas Toroganan was arrested in an entrapment operation last 21 October and subsequently charged with violating the Anti-Fencing Law (P.D. 1612) on 22 October.

Criminal complaints for Robbery with Violence and Intimidation of Persons and Carnapping (RA 10883) have also been filed with the Quezon City Prosecutor’s Office against Toroganan and three remaining suspects who are still at large.

Reports said that the robbery occurred around 8 p.m. on 10 October in Barangay Kaligayahan, when three unidentified males forcibly entered the victim’s residence at gunpoint and took valuable items estimated at P1.6 million before fleeing.

Silvio immediately formed a Special Investigation Team to conduct an in-depth probe.

The Criminal Investigation and Detection Unit (CIDU), led by P/Lt. Col. Edison Ouano, obtained CCTV footage from a fast-food chain in Angono, Rizal, which showed unidentified male suspects handing over stolen items to another individual.

Operatives then traced a Facebook account under Toroganan’s name, which was allegedly selling an iPhone 13 Pro Max matching one of the items stolen during the robbery.

Further verification confirmed that the individual in the CCTV footage was the same person posting the stolen item online.

This led CIDU operatives to conduct an entrapment operationat approximately 11:56 p.m. on 21 October inside a fast-food restaurant in Barangay San Roque, Angono, Rizal. Toroganan was arrested, and police recovered the stolen iPhone 13 Pro Max and a Honda Click motorcycle, both confirmed to be the victim’s property.

On 30 October, Toroganan executed an extrajudicial confession, identifying his alleged accomplices as “alias Hilario,” “alias Aristeo” and “alias EJ,” all residents of Angono, Rizal.