Nakhon Pathom —
Six Thai police officers are in custody for allegedly helping the cop-killing suspect destroy evidence and evade arrest in the brutal highway police shooting in Nakhon Pathom Province.
First Our Previous Story:
Now for our update:
Pol Maj Sivakorn Saibua, chief of highway police station 1 under the Highway Police Sub-division 2, was shot dead during a dinner party in front of 25 other law enforcement officers at Por. Raweekanok Construction Company on Takong-Don Tum Road in Takong sub-district, Mueang district, Nakhon Pathom, on September 6th.
The company is under the ownership of the prime suspect, Mr. Praveen Chanklai, who is locally recognized as Kamnan Nok (“Kamnan” denotes sub-district headman). At 35 years of age, he reportedly wields significant influence in the area.
During the party, it was reported that Kamnan Nok approached Pol Maj Sivakorn with a request to promote his relative, who also happened to be a subordinate of Sivakorn. When the policeman refused, emphasizing that Kamnan Nok’s relative needs to follow normal procedure like any other officers, the sub-district headman became incensed and pounded his fist on the table before leaving.
Shortly after, Thananchai Manmak, who was at the party and was reportedly Kamnan Nok’s close associate, approached Pol Maj Sivakorn and suddenly opened fire on him, resulting in his tragic demise.
The shots also wounded another policeman at the table.
Subsequently, Thananchai fled Nakhon Pathom to Kanchanaburi where he was extrajudicially gunned down by the police after resisting arrest and shooting at a police car.
It was reported that none of the policemen present during Pol Maj Sivakorn’s shooting tried to pursue Thananchai in order to arrest him. They also did not prevent Kamnan Nok’s staff from cleaning up the incident scene, deleting the CCTV recording, and destroying evidence neither, as per reports.
As a result, a court issued arrest warrants for Kamnan Nok as well as six police officers at the party. Kamnan Nok, after surrendering on September 7th, was held for allegedly inciting a felony, premeditated murder, and attempted murder. Six policemen at the dinner (names withheld), on the other hand, were charged for neglecting duties, aiding wrongdoers to avoid punishment, and conspiring to destroy evidence.
Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, deputy commissioner general of the Royal Thai Police, who is one of the officers responsible for overseeing the case, said that police had solid evidence against the six policemen that could link them to the destruction of evidence and aiding suspects in avoiding capture.
It was reported that police were also already able to retrieve the CCTV server that could possibly record the shooting. The server was found discarded in the canal in Nakhon Pathom.
Police were investigating other policemen at the party who had yet faced charges.
Pol Gen Surachate pledged to bring justice to the deceased policeman and to eradicate corrupt policemen nationwide.
The case has also raised heated debates regarding the local civil servants’ power in Thailand since last week, prompting new Interior Minister Anutin Charnveerakul to order a crackdown on what he called these local “mafias”.
Kamnan Nok was reported to be highly influential in the province, owning multi-million-baht companies and often boasting in public about his close ties with former national-level politicians, police, and many local politicians.
He also reportedly owned multiple luxurious cars, including a 25-million-baht Bentley.
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