FRIDAY, March 29, 2024
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Freed by Japan, Camronwit now faces queries over hidden gun

Freed by Japan, Camronwit now faces queries over hidden gun

POL LT-GENERAL Camronwit Toopgrajank, a former metropolitan police chief, returned from Japan as a free man yesterday after Japanese public prosecutors decided not to prosecute him for carrying a small handgun into Narita Airport.

But he looks set to face a probe in his homeland now over how he took his North American Arms .22 Magnum out of Thailand.
“If there is convincing evidence he took the gun out [through] Suvarnabhumi Airport, the Airports of Thailand (AOT) will lodge a complaint with police against him,” AOT president Nitinai Sirismatthakarn said yesterday.
Camronwit would be considered to have violated the Aviation Act, he said, if the former top cop carried the gun on to the aircraft.
Nitinai said AOT had planned to examine Camronwit’s interviews about the gun incident, which he was expected to give to media following his return to Thailand.
“We may also consider asking Japanese public prosecutors to provide copies of Camronwit’s statements,” he said.
During his detention in Japan, Camronwit reportedly said the gun was his but he was unaware the weapon was in his carry-on luggage when he was about to board a flight back to Thailand on June 22.
His reported statements have raised the question that Camronwit might have taken the gun with him when he boarded a flight out of Thailand on his way to Japan.
According to Nitinai, a preliminary probe by the AOT showed Camronwit had not put his gun into his carry-on luggage when boarding a Japan-bound flight out of the Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“There’s a possibility he might have put the gun in his loaded luggage though,” Nitinai said.
Camronwit’s flight back to Thailand landed at the Suvarnabhumi Airport at 3.40pm yesterday.
After the landing, the retired police officer hugged waiting relatives and smiled at reporters. But he left the airport without giving any interview.
Police Spokesman Lt-General Prawut Thavornsiri said Camronwit had not been detained upon arrival, because at this point there was no evidence he had violated Thai laws.
“But we will later summon him for questioning,” he said.
He said national police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang had already assigned Provincial Police Region 1 chief Lt-General Amnuay Nimmano to look into the matter.
Commenting on the case, Amnuay said if Camronwit put his gun in the loaded luggage, he did nothing against the airport’s regulations.
“In that case, he would have not been able to use that weapon during the flight,” Amnuay said.
Watchara Phetthong, a former Democrat MP, said he believed that society was closely watching as to whether the AOT and the National Police Office would have the courage to take legal action Camronwit over alleged gun carrying.
“From what I’ve heard, it’s an unlicensed gun and Camronwit took it with him when he took a flight out of Thailand,” he said.
 

 

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