Somsak meets officials over rising number of detained suspects escaping
Justice Minister Somsak Thepsuthin met with ministry deputy permanent secretary Sahakarn Petchnarin, Department of Correction’s director-general Ayuth Sintoppant and other department executives on Wednesday, taking note that more prisoners were escaping than before chiefly because they were in a quarantine area.
Somsak said the reason might be that the quarantine area was not secure enough or the number of security personnel was not enough.
The minister said the meeting came because he wanted to cheer up and encourage the concerned officials because, after all, he knew they were working hard and were tired.
He asked them to let him know if they encountered any problem.
Somsak said nine prisoners that escaped on Saturday were from the Thung Noi temporary detention centre in Nakhon Pathom.
He said if an investigation revealed that any officer helped the prisoners escape, the officer would be dismissed and face legal action.
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One officer has already been dismissed.
Ayuth said the men escaped from the quarantine area before entering the main area. Their violations might not be severe but they will lose certain rights, he added.
