Fire did not damage evidence against Suphoth: police

An onduty officer spotted smoke coming from a storage area near detention cells on the ground floor at about 5.30am and quickly called the fire department, which took about 20 minutes to put out the fire. Of the seven detainees evacuated from the cells, two drunkdriving suspects, both 44, were rushed to Police General Hospital to be treated for smoke inhalation.
Wang Thong Lang superintendent Pol Colonel Thawat Wongsanga said other detainees would be moved to other precincts nearby, adding that the fire did not destroy any key evidence in the police station’s ongoing cases. He added that the fire did not have anything to do with Suphoth’s robbery case, and that the Bt18 million confiscated cash and other evidence were still intact.
The blaze, believed to have been caused by a shortcircuited ventilation fan, covered an area of about 10 square metres and caused some damage.
However, Anuchai dismissed speculation the fire might be an attempt to destroy evidence related to Suphoth’s case, adding that the room where the fire started had only broken chairs and other items that were no longer in use. He said the cause of the fire was under investigation and it would not be difficult to get to the bottom of it.
Meanwhile, Rames Rattanachaweng, a member of the Democrat Party’s legal team, called on police to confirm if the evidence for ongoing cases, especially the one on votebuying allegations against People’s Power Party and involving former party executive Yongyuth Tiyapairat, were still intact. He explained the Constitution Court had dissolved the party, but the criminal code procedure was still being investigated and hence some evidence might be kept at the station. He also urged Wang Thong Lang police to make the case’s progress report public, adding that he would officially request national police chief Pol General Priewpan Damapong for an update on this case as well as the one against Yongyuth.