Highway cop faces probe after bribe clip goes viral

Somchai said he would ensure justice for all sides and punish the officer through disciplinary and criminal code if he were found guilty. He also said that one policeman taking bribes did not reflect the entire force, as there were 2,300 highway policemen and only a few were bad apples. Somchai said Highway Police had served the public well as proved by the seizure of 129 guns, 300,000 yaba pills and several other illegal items over the past four months. 

Pol Colonel Sophon Sarapat, head of the Highway Police Command 1, said the incident might have occurred on the highway in Sing Buri or Chai Nat provinces, while the policeman in the clip resembled a Sing Buri-based lieutenant, so police were now trying to locate the truck driver to confirm it. 

Police officers taking bribes is among the 16 offences that the government’s ongoing nationwide crackdown on “dark influential figures” is focused upon. 

National police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda said yesterday that he expected to get a name list of police officers involved with such criminal figures by today. He also revealed that most of the underworld figures on the authorities’ list were linked to drug trafficking and trade in war weapons. He also said the clip of a highway policeman taking bribes should be verified and those found involved punished. He also believed that the issue of collecting bribes on highways should lessen now because members of the public were helping monitor the issue and recording clips to use as evidence. 

In related news, Provincial Police Region 4 officers arrested Tambon Huai Mek mayor Anek Uthaiklom, 45, for allegedly often pulling out and firing a gun to threaten those who disagreed with him. Armed with a search warrant, police showed up at Anek’s home at 6am yesterday and found a loaded shotgun and a bulletproof vest. Police charged him of being in possession of a gun, ammunition and the vest without permission before handing him over to Huai Mek Police Station.