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143490
Fri, 09/24/2010 - 18:48
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Police to seek more arrest warrants in missing Lopburi arsenal RPG case
BANGKOK, Sept 24 - The police will seek arrest warrants for two more suspects in the disappearance of a quantity of rocket propelled grenades (RPGs) from an arsenal in Lopburi while police said the former superiors of the suspects were behind the weapon theft.
Four suspects have been detained so far at the Lopburi municipal police station and divers from the Special Warfare Command found 12 RPGs and grips of M16 assault rifle in Bangkham canal in Tha Wung district during the search last night. Two more grenades were reportedly retrieved Friday morning.
According to the initial inspection, the RPGs were from the munitions missing from the Lopburi arsenal.
Pol Col Thawatchai Kerdpoksab, superintendent of the Lopburi police station, said that the search for the weapons in the canal came after interrogating the detained suspects.
The retrieved munitions will be used as evidence to seek arrest warrants for two more suspects on Friday. Seven warrants have been issued and four men were arrested.
A Royal Thai Police investigators team led by Assistant National Police Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Assawin Kwanmuang said one or two former superiors of the suspect, formerly in the army, ordered them steal weapons from the arsenal. Police are seeking further evidence for the case.
As head of the investigation team, he said the former superior of the suspects is from a 'hardcore' renegade military group which went astray.
He said Sgt Maj 1st Class Anek Ookman, a former soldier, contacted the police to turn himself in next week but he is still negotiating for bail conditions which will be considered after he surrenders and reveals the location of still missing weapons.
The police are also investigating if the missing munitions were used in recent attacks.
The suspects said they took the weapons to sell to an ethnic minority group, but when investigators contacted the ethnic in the North and the West they asserted they had not purchased weapons for two years.
Gen Assawin believed the missing weapons were still hidden in the country.
According to Gen Assawin, 16 RPGs were retrieved while 23 others remain missing. Suspect Sgt Maj 1st Class Prawit Chernkhiri said he kept the grenades for sale at about Bt1,000 each and about 9,000 missing cartridges for M60 machine guns sold at 10 baht per bullet. The suspect will be charged with possession of military weapons.
Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), said 12 RPG rounds were found Thursday night and two more were discovered Friday morning.
He said that the army has imposed strict measures to guard its supplies of weapons. This was the first time that weapons under the responsibility of the ordnance department have been stolen. He believed that all missing weapons will be retrieved and that some were still in the Bangkam canal.
He said that the investigation was conducted immediately to retrieve the missing weapons and forensic science was applied to find the missing weapons more quickly. (MCOT online news)
Four suspects have been detained so far at the Lopburi municipal police station and divers from the Special Warfare Command found 12 RPGs and grips of M16 assault rifle in Bangkham canal in Tha Wung district during the search last night. Two more grenades were reportedly retrieved Friday morning.
According to the initial inspection, the RPGs were from the munitions missing from the Lopburi arsenal.
Pol Col Thawatchai Kerdpoksab, superintendent of the Lopburi police station, said that the search for the weapons in the canal came after interrogating the detained suspects.
The retrieved munitions will be used as evidence to seek arrest warrants for two more suspects on Friday. Seven warrants have been issued and four men were arrested.
A Royal Thai Police investigators team led by Assistant National Police Commissioner Pol Lt Gen Assawin Kwanmuang said one or two former superiors of the suspect, formerly in the army, ordered them steal weapons from the arsenal. Police are seeking further evidence for the case.
As head of the investigation team, he said the former superior of the suspects is from a 'hardcore' renegade military group which went astray.
He said Sgt Maj 1st Class Anek Ookman, a former soldier, contacted the police to turn himself in next week but he is still negotiating for bail conditions which will be considered after he surrenders and reveals the location of still missing weapons.
The police are also investigating if the missing munitions were used in recent attacks.
The suspects said they took the weapons to sell to an ethnic minority group, but when investigators contacted the ethnic in the North and the West they asserted they had not purchased weapons for two years.
Gen Assawin believed the missing weapons were still hidden in the country.
According to Gen Assawin, 16 RPGs were retrieved while 23 others remain missing. Suspect Sgt Maj 1st Class Prawit Chernkhiri said he kept the grenades for sale at about Bt1,000 each and about 9,000 missing cartridges for M60 machine guns sold at 10 baht per bullet. The suspect will be charged with possession of military weapons.
Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesman of the Centre for the Resolution of the Emergency Situation (CRES), said 12 RPG rounds were found Thursday night and two more were discovered Friday morning.
He said that the army has imposed strict measures to guard its supplies of weapons. This was the first time that weapons under the responsibility of the ordnance department have been stolen. He believed that all missing weapons will be retrieved and that some were still in the Bangkam canal.
He said that the investigation was conducted immediately to retrieve the missing weapons and forensic science was applied to find the missing weapons more quickly. (MCOT online news)
