Dr. Russel Langi Salic, who's being linked to Maute Group, attends kidnapping and murder hearing @ the Department of Justice pic.twitter.com/mYUZlCTH0r

— Ina Reformina (@InaReformina) August 14, 2017

MANILA - A detained doctor being linked to the Maute terror group appeared at the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Monday for a preliminary investigation into his alleged involvement in the abduction and killing of 2 residents of Iligan City.

Five Iligan residents have implicated Dr. Rusell Langi Salic in the killing of 2 victims at a sawmill last April 2016.

The complainants said Salic was with a group of armed men who abducted them and subsequently beheaded Jaymart Capangpangan and Salvador Janubas.

They said that several days before their abduction, they saw the suspects talking to Cayamora and Farhanan Maute, the parents of terror leaders Omar and Abdullah Maute.

"Ang mga nagsabing tao at si Rusell Langi Salic ay kasamahan ng mga taong dumukot at bumihag at nagbantay sa amin na nagpakilalang ISIS na kilala din sa Lanao del Sur bilang Maute group," the complainants' 5-page affidavit read.

Among the complainants were Gabriel Tomatao Permitis, Alfredo Sarsalejo-Cano-os, Esperanza Permitis, Adonis Antipisto Mendez and Julito Permitis Janubas.

Except for Esperanza who missed Monday's hearing, all complainants positively identified Salic among their alleged abductors.

The doctor, who is facing 4 counts of kidnapping and 2 counts of murder, has been placed under the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI).

The complainants' hometown, Iligan City, is just an hour away by car from Marawi City, where Maute bandits have been holed up since March 23. -- Report from Ina Reformina, ABS-CBN News