Panya Khongsaenkham was arrested shortly after his wife’s body was found on Jan 12 in the border town in Sa Kaeo province. Police subsequently found video from a security camera that showed she had been beaten and abducted by five youths, reports the Bangkok Post.
The attackers ‒ two of them the sons of police officers ‒ were later identified as being aged 13 to 16.
It has since emerged that a group of men covered Mr Panya’s head with a black bag, chained and assaulted him and forced him to confess to killing his wife.
The audio of the Aranyaprathet officers’ conversations, said to have been recorded on Jan 13, reveals them acknowledging they have the wrong suspect.
Pol Lt Col Nititorn Pimkhum, the inspector in charge of the case, is heard in each clip speaking about the suspect.
In the first recording, which is 54 seconds long, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut Singwong, who was assigned to examine the closed-circuit TV video, is heard notifying Pol Lt Col Nititorn that it showed the perpetrator was not Mr Panya.
He said five teenagers were clearly seen chasing, beating and stomping on the victim. “I am watching the footage right now,” Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut says.
In the second voice recording, approximately a minute long, Pol Lt Col Nititorn is heard speaking in a panicked tone of voice to Pol Maj Nitirat Srisawat, who was bringing Mr Panya to the provincial court for detention.
The plan “has gone wrong” and the detention warrant needs to be put on hold, says the head investigator. In response, Pol Maj Nitirat says the warrant has already been submitted.
In the third clip, a conversation between Pol Lt Col Nititorn and Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut is heard, where they further discuss what they found on the video ‒ including timelines of the incident.
Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut reaffirmed that the five teenagers were captured on municipal and 7-Eleven security cameras wandering around the area on motorcycles looking for the victim. When they saw her at around 1:30am, they got off their bikes and started chasing her on foot.
In the fourth clip, Pol Lt Col Nititorn is heard telling Pol Snr Sgt Maj Piyabut to send the CCTV footage to the investigation room. The fifth recording is a discussion reconfirming the timeline in the footage.
In the last recording, Pol Maj Nitirat is heard telling Pol Lt Col Nititorn that the court had approved the warrant for Mr Panya’s detention at 11am. “Damn it,” replies Pol Lt Col Nititorn, while Pol Maj Nitirat says, “Now we’re in trouble.”
Some people have asked if the clips were leaked to show the police had just got their hands on the CCTV footage and were trying to rectify the mistake they had made in arresting the deceased’s husband.
But the police continued to detain Mr Panya for two more days until Jan 15 ‒ despite knowing the truth.
TOUGHER PENALTIES FOR YOUTHS
The government will weigh the pros and cons of toughening legal punishments against young offenders who commit serious crimes, Prime Minister Srettha Thavisin said on Friday after returning from attending the the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
He made the remarks in response to calls for tougher penalties against juveniles in the wake of the brutal slaying of 47-year-old woman Buanhan Tansu in Sa Kaeo’s Aranyaprathet district, the Bangkok post noted in a separate report.
The suspects, caught on a security camera attacking the victim in Aranyaprathet, later admitted to killing Buaphan Tansu, 47, and disposing of her body in a pond on Jan 11. They are now being detained in connection with her murder.
The premier said he instructed national police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol to conduct a probe into the alleged misconduct of several police officers at the Aranyaprathet district police station accused of torturing Buaphan’s husband, Mr Panya, into falsely confessing to killing his wife.
“The police must produce the probe results and tell the public what really happened. The Royal Thai Police is duty-bound to win back public trust and take tough legal action against officers who committed wrongdoings,” the prime minister said.
Responding to calls for tougher punishments for young offenders wilfully committing serious crimes, Mr Srettha said he would discuss the pros and cons with the national police chief first.
Chaichana Detdacho, a Democrat Party MP for Nakhon Si Thammarat, has called for tougher penalties for juvenile delinquents who commit such crimes, especially after the Siam Paragon shooting rampage by a 14-year-old boy in Bangkok on Oct 3 last year that resulted in three deaths and four people injured.
For the murder case in Aranyaprathet, a copy of the Line chat history obtained from the youths who confessed to killing the woman showed they had a penchant for violence and acted more like a juvenile crime syndicate than regular teenagers, Mr Chaichana said.
Pol Gen Torsak on Friday apologised for the alleged misconduct committed by the Aranyaprathet police officers. He was speaking as he flew to Sa Kaeo yesterday to oversee the investigation into the murder case.
He said that he would examine details of the alleged misconduct before offering a public explanation and gave assurances that if the officers were found guilty, they would face disciplinary and criminal action.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said that he had listened to six voice clips released online, revealing the Aranyaprathet district police knew they had arrested the wrong suspect for the murder of Buaphan.
He said he believed the clips were authentic, adding that he is duty-bound to get to the bottom of the alleged misconduct by the police officers.
Arrested shortly after his wife’s body was found on Jan 12, Mr Panya allegedly confessed to the crime before footage from a security camera showed it was the five youths who were responsible.
Mr Panya said he was ordered to strip inside an air-conditioned room and told he could not leave the station until he had signed a written confession, according to Pol Gen Surachate.
Writing on Facebook, Senator Wallop Tungkananurak suggested that a multidisciplinary panel be set up to assess the behaviour of young offenders. If they have committed serious crimes on purpose, the panel should recommend tougher punishment, he posted.