Santhana’s father accused of hiding him in market corruption case

Chokechai Police Station’s superintendent Pol Colonel Supon Khamchu said Santhana had been summoned to testify on Friday.
He said the summons was issued as Santhana’s father, Senior Police Colonel Somchai Prayoonrat, was suspected of hiding his son.
Last Friday, the court approved an arrest warrant for Santhana on extortion charges. 
Police raided his condo but did not find him. Following the raid, Santhana announced that he would surrender and asked police to pick him up from his father’s house on Saturday morning. 
However, police officers surrounded the father’s house on Friday night and said Santhana was inside.
The United Lawyers for Rights and Liberty’s secretary general Winyat Chatmontree said that Somchai did not tell police that his son was not at home and therefore cannot be accused of trying to hide a suspect.
“Santhana’s decision to tell police about his whereabouts makes |things quite clear that he intended to surrender,” he said.
Winyat said he hoped police would review the summons.
 Santhana, a former deputy superintendent at the Special Branch Police Division, is freed on Bt300,000 bail. 
He and 10 other alleged accomplices are accused of extorting money from vendors at the Donmuang Modern Market in Bangkok’s Don Muang district between April 2016 and last month. 

The extortion allegedly started soon after the operator of Donmuang Modern Market recruited Santhana as an adviser. 
Complainants said they were required to pay between Bt1,000 and Bt3,000 a month per shop inside the market to the Santhana-led gang. They also had to pay Bt700 per car and Bt300 per motorcycle parked inside the market. They said they agreed to pay only because they faced threats.
Several of Santhana’s alleged accomplices have turned themselves in following Santhana’s surrender on Saturday and the arrest of his aide, Kanes Premkrut, on Sunday.
As of press time, only four suspects in the case had failed to contact authorities. Kanes’ bail was also approved yesterday, with Bt300,000 bond. 
Since his release on bail, Santhana has given several media interviews. He has claimed he has landed in trouble because he has had conflicts with National Police Commissioner Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda, General Deputy National Police Commissioner Pol General Wirachai Songmetta, and Tourism Police Division’s deputy commander Pol Maj-General Surachat Hakpal.
 Santhana has also publicly said that he has no intention to go on the run and insisted that he can be contacted by authorities at any time.