Kidnap report questioned
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SURVEILLANCE CAMERAS showing three South Koreans leaving the Metropolitan Police Division 5 office on their own without anyone accompanying them has cast doubt on a story that they were kidnapped by some officers for ransom.
“We have already examined recordings from closed-circuit television systems at various locations,” Pol Colonel Banjong Amarit, a superintendent at the division, said yesterday.
The three suspects were brought in last week for questioning over online gambling services, but their relatives filed a complaint with Crime Suppression Police claiming they were abducted for a Bt2 million ransom.
They were later found safe at the Seacon Square shopping mall.
“Recordings from security cameras at the complex showed that no police accompanied them to the place,” he said.
Banjong said the Crime Suppression Division would handle the probe into the accusation that some of his subordinates demanded Bt2 million from these Korean suspects.
“I won’t protect my men if they’re found guilty. By the way, they have told me that the allegation is false,” he said.
Myeong Ildo, 33, Lee Young Jun, 29, and Kim Kwanghun, 30, who were described by relatives as kidnap victims, showed up with an interpreter at the Crime Suppression headquarters yesterday to testify.
After two hours, Pol Lt Colonel Pongsawai Chamlam-jiak said they could remember the faces of two South Koreans involved in the alleged incident.
“But their information on the Thais is still confusing,” he said.
At this stage, it remained unclear whether the suspects were detained.
The three Koreans refused to talk to the media.
