Security forces killed one of the suspected abductors of Charlie Reith in a follow-up operation several hours after the 72-year-old Filipino-Swiss was rescued in Zamboanga City on Wednesday, a police official said Thursday.

Senior Superintendent Frank Cristobal, commander of the police’s Task Force Charlie, said the dead suspect was identified as Ibno Kais, allegedly a member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) under Furuji Indama, the highest-ranking bandit commander in Basilan.

Cristobal said Kais and two other companions engaged joint police and Navy operatives at the shoreline of Barangay San Ramon at around 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday.

“They were apparently waiting for a boat to escape,” said Cristobal, adding that Kai’s two companions managed to avoid capture.

Police theorized that the three were among those who scampered away during the operation that resulted in the rescue of Reith and had just waited for the cops and soldiers to leave before trying to rejoin their group.

They, however, were tracked down as policemen and soldiers swarmed the shorelines of Zamboanga City after Reith’s rescue.

Reith was abandoned by his captors on the shoreline of Labuan in Zamboanga City at around 3 a.m. on Wednesday after police and military operatives chanced upon them, said Chief Superintendent Leonardo Espina, spokesman of the Philippine National Police (PNP).

Espina said suspected ASG men were supposed to bring Reith to Basilan from Sibuco town in Zamboanga Sibugay when police got hold of the information regarding the supposed transport of the victim.

“This was made possible through hard intelligence work,” said Espina.

“Definitely there was no ransom paid. The gunmen were startled with the sudden presence of government forces, that’s why they abandoned him,” he said.

Reith was kidnapped on April 4 near a beach resort he owned also in Zamboanga City. A P20 million ransom was allegedly demanded for his release but police would not confirm it.