POLICE arrested three alleged gunmen of prominent medical practitioner Dr. Raul Winston Andutan in a dawn raid in their hideout in Balingoan town, Misamis Oriental today.

Major Evan Viñas, the spokesman of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office, said the alleged ring leader identified as a certain Rene Tortosa, an ex-Army soldier and an eatery owner in Balingoan town was able to escape the police dragnet.

Viñas identified the suspects as Joel Arcilla Nacua, the alleged triggerman, 37, a resident of Barangay Lilingayon, Valencia City; Marjun Abayon Cabog, 39, the alleged driver of the getaway motorcycle, a resident of Don Carlos, Bukidnon; and Jomar Adlao, 30, the alleged lookout, a resident of Maramag, Bukidnon.

The arrests came less than 24 hours after the alleged contract killers ambushed Andutan, medical director of the Jesuit-owned Maria Reyna Hospital, who was in his silver Toyota Fortuner along 12th-29th streets in Barangay Nazareth, this city yesterday.

Andutan, a urologist and a graduate of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, died with multiple gunshot wounds to his head and body.

Viñas said the quick arrest of the suspected killers came after they managed to extract CCTV images of the fleeing gunmen.

He said the police raiders found the suspects swimming at the beach in Balingoan town, some 88 kilometers northeast of Cagayan de Oro.

“The neighbors also told us the suspects (had) a drinking spree on Thursday night,” Viñas said.

All of the three suspects admitted to reporters that they were responsible for the ambush slay.

The alleged gunman, Nacua said Tortosa allegedly contracted them to kill Andutan for P150,000. He said the money would have been paid today, Friday.

“I fired at the driver when the vehicle was two to three feet away from me. I continued shooting until the vehicle stopped. I must have fired four shots,” Nacua told reporters.

Nacua said Tortosa and Adlao served as their lookouts who alerted him and Cabog as soon as the victim left his house in Barangay Macasandig.

He said he and Cabog trailed the Toyota Fortuner until it reached the corner of 12th and 29th streets in Nazareth.

Viñas said they would be questioning the suspects further to check the veracity of their stories.