Akeyuth probe 'progressing'

A source from the investigative team said an autopsy report confirmed that Akeyuth was not tortured, as his lawyer Suwat Apaipak had suspected. The lawyer said Akeyuth’s genitals appeared to be swollen, so someone may have hit him there to force him to disclose information. But the autopsy result found that the genitals were not bruised and the swelling was due to the normal chemical process after death.

Suwat had also asked police to locate a house in Nakhon Si Thammarat where suspect Santiparb Pengduang, Akeyuth’s chauffeur, and his accomplices allegedly stopped to rest on their way to dispose of the body. The lawyer suspected that some of Akeyuth’s missing valuables may have been hidden there.

But the source said the investigative team had located the house, which belongs to a cousin of Santiparb, and did not find any of the missing valuables. Police believe Santiparb stopped there to sleep before heading to Phatthalung.

The lawyer also said that a group of men was seen waiting at the Pradipat Hotel in front of Soi Pradipat 17 on the night that Akeyuth was abducted from a restaurant on the soi. He said Santiparb might have made a phone call to the men.

But the police source said investigators had checked the security camera of a currency exchange shop in front of the hotel and did not see any group of men in the footage.

The lawyer suspected that Akeyuth’s iPad and four mobile phones might have been sold at a shop in the Yaowaraj area. Police have combed the area and did not find any trace of Akeyuth’s valuables there.