Alleged Maute member goes to Marawi capitol as evacuee

BATTLE RAGES. Police special forces prepare to assault a rebel hideout in Marawi City on May 28, 2017. File photo by AFP

MARAWI CITY, Philippines – An alleged Maute Group member who arrived at the provincial capitol here seeking to be evacuated was arrested last week.

Assemblyman Zia Alonto Adiong on Monday, May 29, said security forces checked the man because he looked suspicious.

He was arrested when his fingers smelled like gunpowder, Adiong said. "He [looked] suspicious. He was different from the rest," said Adiong. "When police started asking him questions – the security officers here at the provincial capitol – apparently his fingers smelled of gunpowder," Adiong said.

Last week, Armed Forces chief of staff General Eduardo Año confirmed that warrantless arrests have been made at checkpoints, too, in the wake of the imposition of martial law in Mindanao. (READ: Warrantless arrests begin at Mindanao checkpoints)

Adiong said residents can also execute "citizen arrests" of Maute members. Guidelines on how they should do this are not clear, however.

More than 55,000 people have been forced to flee Marawi since fighting began Tuesday last week, May 23. – Rappler.com