Indian shot dead in Philippines

Singapore, Jan 16: An Indian national engaged in money lending business and his driver have been shot dead by unidentified motorcycle-borne gunmen in the Philippines, media reported on Thursday.

Dikki Romy Singh and his driver Alden Teves were killed by unidentified gunmen in Bacolod City in the Philippines’ province of Negros Occidental Wednesday, the Sun Star reported.

Police said, when Singh and his driver stopped at a store on Circumferential Road in the city around 11 a.m. to collect payment, two motorcycle-riding men wearing hoods shot them.

Teves, who suffered injuries in his neck and back, died immediately while the Indian national, who took four bullets, passed away at the Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Bacolod.

Police recovered six spent shells of .45 caliber, a Honda motorcycle, a cell phone, and an ice pick from the scene of the shooting.

The report, citing police, said that the slain Indian national had a debt issue with a fellow national.

However, police are conducting probe in the case to determine the motive.

A store owner, Fely Samillano, said the gunmen shot the driver twice and the Indian national four times, while the driver was having food and the Indian was collecting money.

Teves’s aunt, Amalia Hermano, said she could not remember that her nephew has an enemy and was in shock upon learning that he was killed.