Last suspect in Maan police killing case turns himself in — PSD

AMMAN — The Public Security Directorate (PSD) on Wednesday announced that the last suspect wanted on charges of killing four police officers and other terror-related offences in Maan in December, turned himself in late on Tuesday night.

Police Spokesperson Lt. Col. Amer Sartawi said that the PSD has been working tirelessly to locate all the suspects who were involved in the Maan terror-related incidents.

“Our investigation teams managed to identify 11 men. Eight of them were referred to the State Security Court (SSC) prosecution office for further investigation, and are currently on trial,” Sartawi told The Jordan Times.

Two other men, who were brothers, including one who was incarcerated and managed to escape for a brief period, were recently located by the authorities, according to Sartawi.

“The two brothers were killed during a shootout with police,” Sartawi maintained.

The last remaining suspect, Sartawi added, turned himself in on Tuesday night to police and “is currently being questioned by the SSC prosecution office”.

The latest suspect is part of a group of eight men who are standing trial at the State Security Court on charges of plotting subversive acts that led to the death of one or more people, illegal weapons possession, plotting acts of terrorism and joining terrorist groups.

Three of the four slain officers were killed on December 19 during a raid on the hideout of the suspected killers of Colonel Abdulrazzaq Al Dalabeeh, who was killed a few days earlier in riots over fuel price hikes in Maan.

The PSD at the time announced that Captain Ghaith Rahahleh, Second Lieutenant Mutaz Najada and Corporal Ibrahim Shaqarin were killed during the raid.

Five other police officers were injured in the same raid.

Colonel Dalabeeh, who was the deputy director of the Maan Police Directorate, was shot in the head while handling riots in Al Husseinieh region, 60km north of Maan, on December 16. During the riots, two other officers were injured and were taken to the hospital.

Dalabeeh’s suspected killer was reportedly a follower of the extremist takfiri ideology. The suspect was killed, and eight others were arrested during the raid, the PSD announced in December.

The suspect killed in Al Husseinieh raid was born in 2002. One of his brothers was killed in Syria five years ago, and the other is currently imprisoned on terrorism-related charges, according to Al Mamlaka TV.

The suspects were found in possession of automatic weapons and a large amount of ammunition, according to the PSD.   

The PSD said that a special security force conducted a raid on a terrorist cell in Al Husseinieh after investigations uncovered a group of brothers who were proponents of the takfiri ideology.

As the police were heading to the cell, one of the suspects started shooting at the force with an automatic weapon, which required security personnel to apply the rules of engagement.

Evidence from the crime scene indicated that most members of the cell embraced the extremist ideology.