Second teen-torture suspect arrested
Police have arrested another alleged member of the “Kimsua Phukhaothong” criminal gang which is accused of abducting a 19-year-old man from Songkhla in and torturing him over a Bt4,000 narcotic debt before robbing him of valuables on January 28.
Suspect Pichai Worapat, 31, was arrested at 7am on Thursday at his house in Tambon Khlong La of Songkhla’s Khlong Hoi Khong district. He was the second suspect taken into custody of the seven people sought for the alleged abduction, torture and robbery. The first to be arrested, Chanaporn Naemnoi, 20, surrendered to police on February 24.
Another five suspects remain at large including the gang leader, Theepakorn “Kimsua” Kaewwichit, 28, who is also wanted for two other crimes – a drug trafficking case and the abduction and murder of a 22-year-old police informant in Hat Yai last March. That murder case carries a Bt10,000 reward for providing information leading to Theepakorn’s arrest.
Police said Pichai admitted to being at the rubber plantation where the victim was brought for torture, but denied assaulting him.
He told police that Theepakorn claimed to have paid Bt1 million to police to clear away the case of the teenager’s abduction. He told police that when the group learned that arrest warrants had been issued for them, they fled in separate directions.