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Suspicious vehicles in focus over Yingluck disappearance

Suspicious vehicles in focus over Yingluck disappearance

Police say investigation is ‘making progress’, but no confirmation yet on whether ex-pm has fled the country.

POLICE HAVE expanded their investigation to cover suspicious vehicles and online posts in a bid to trace former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra’s movements before she disappeared ahead of the Supreme Court’s August 25 verdict reading in a dereliction case against her over her government’s rice pledging scheme.
There has been no evidence so far to show she has fled or is still within the country, deputy police chief Pol General Srivara Rangsibrahmanakul told a press conference yesterday. 

Suspicious vehicles in focus over Yingluck disappearance
Srivara said police were particularly interested in a police pickup truck reportedly seen driving out of the former premier’s residence on August 23. 
Investigators learned later that it was a vehicle from the Lat Phrao Police Station, which has jurisdiction covering the area, on a regular patrol. 
However, Srivara said he had ordered that the truck be checked to see whether traces of DNA other than that of the officers, could be found and, if so, to whom they belonged.

Suspicious vehicles in focus over Yingluck disappearance
Srivara said investigators were focusing on a suspicious car that could have been involved with the former PM’s escape but he refused to give any further details.
“The investigation is progressing. We need time to investigate further,” he said.
There has been much public speculation about the police vehicle since the Isra News Agency released a video clip of the pickup driving out of Yingluck’s residence on August 23. 

Suspicious vehicles in focus over Yingluck disappearance
Srivara said yesterday that police wanted to check everything to do with the vehicle, including DNA traces, so they could be sure it had nothing to do with Yingluck’s disappearance.
The Central Investigation Bureau has also been instructed to check Yingluck’s Facebook posts in the days before she disappeared. It confirmed the authenticity of some posts from that time but it declined to disclose any details of their findings.
Srivara revealed police had found another vehicle they suspected could have been involved in Yingluck’s disappearance. They said it did not appear in the released video clip but declined to give any further details. He also said that some people thought to have been close to Yingluck had been invited to give their accounts of events on the relevant days, and their accounts had been useful.
The deputy chief said police had also received responses from Interpol officers in Cambodia, Singapore, and Dubai, who had confirmed they had no evidence of Yingluck entering these countries. The border police had not found any trace of her slipping through the borders either, he said, but added that it was possible for her to have slipped through unnoticed.
Based on investigations over the past seven days, police have not yet confirmed whether Yingluck has already fled the country or is still in Thailand since there is no evidence either way, Srivara said.
“But I insist that the investigation has made some progress,” he said.
Meanwhile, Army commander-in-chief General Chalermchai Sitthisart conceded yesterday that there had been no progress in finding any evidence in Thailand’s border areas that might be relevant to the investigation.
The Army chief, in his capacity as secretary of the National Council for Peace and Order, said the junta had not abandoned their hope of finding Yingluck and he was not worried that the ongoing inquiry would cause unrest. 
The issue needed time, he said, while conceding the ongoing investigation into her disappearance had encountered problems.
The case might need to be handled by officials responsible for areas within the country, he said, implying the police should take charge of it.
Asked whether the junta would just try to leave this behind, he said: 
“I have a good memory of things. The Army chief has vowed to report on progress, if there is any.”
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, meanwhile, said he had not received any information that suggested progress had been made.

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