Phatthalung police ready arrest warrants for suspects in mass killing of swiftlets
Phatthalung police have readied arrest warrants against the perpetrators who massacred more than a million swiftlets and stole their nests from an island cave on Monday, with damages running into billions of baht.
Locals and provincial authorities are also preparing to lodge a complaint with three House of Representatives committees in the case.
On Wednesday, Phatthalung forensic officers revisited the island to collect more evidence and DNA samples from Siamnest company workers. Siamnest has the concession to collect bird’s nests from 107 caves on the province’s seven islands.
(Related report: Horrifying Phatthalung bird massacre costs Siamnest THB5-bn in lost revenue)
Police escorted the workers to the cave to demonstrate how the bird’s nests are collected along the cave walls.
Officials are now in the process of issuing arrest warrants to five suspects based on the evidence that had been previously collected. Meanwhile, some arrest warrants had reportedly been approved on Wednesday.
The secretary to the Phatthalung Provincial Administrative Organisation informed reporters on Wednesday that a local protection group and provincial authorities have been preparing documents and information to submit a complaint to three House of Representatives committees – under the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, the Administrative Commission and the National Anti-Corruption Commission.
