Pakistani and Thai wife arrested for murder of Indian in Songkhla

Police arrested a Pakistani man and his Thai wife for the murder of an Indian man in the southern province of Songkhla. The motive is suspected to be a business conflict.

The dead body of a foreign man was found on the roadside in Songkhla on May 15 with two stab wounds and a gunshot wound. Police later identified the man as a 53 year old Indian national, Poulose Varghese.

Officers successfully identified the murders as a 32 year old Pakistani man named Yasir Ashfaq and a Thai woman named Kadijayasi Ashfaq and arrested them on May 18. The deceased and suspects were business partners, leading police to believe the murder stemmed from a business conflict.

According to police reports, Varghese and Ashfaq entered Thailand together on April 19 and stayed at Kadijayasi’s condominium in Phuket. Varghese and Yasir ran a business together in Dubai, and Varghese later invested in Kadijayasi’s travel agency in Thailand.

Police believed the three argued over their businesses, and on May 14, Yasir and his wife lured Varghese to travel with them from Phuket to Songkhla, where they killed him in the car before abandoning his body on the roadside.

Officers discovered a gun and Varghese’s shoes at the couple’s home, and the victim’s belongings and valuables were found at their condominium. Their car also contained the victim’s bloodstains.

Despite the clear evidence, the couple denied the allegations, claiming they parted ways with the victim at Kata Beach in Phuket.

Based on the evidence, the couple was charged with intentional murder and illegally possessing a gun without a permit. The punishment is up to the death penalty, life imprisonment, or imprisonment from 15 to 20 years.

UPDATE 1: Dead body with stab and gunshot wounds identified as Indian man

Police successfully identified the nationality of a foreign man found dead in the southern province of Phang Nga as an Indian clothes seller. The identity of the murderer remains unknown.

A Thai resident found the dead body of a foreign man on the side of Ban Na Road yesterday, May 15 and reported the discovery to Khok Kloi Police Station. The foreigner sustained a stab wound to his back and wrist, as well as a gunshot wound to the back of his neck.

Locals initially suspected the man was a member of the Bangladeshi cloth vendors in the area but police questioning of the group revealed that no one knew him.

Further investigation led police to discover that the dead man was a 53 year old Indian man who entered Thailand on a tourist visa but overstayed by more than five years.

According to police, the Indian man, whose name remains undisclosed, used to live with a male Indian friend at a rented house in the Thai Mueang district of Phang Nga province.

A Thai woman, Autsama Sareerat, is the leader of a community where the Indians used to live. She informed police that the Indian man and his friend entered the community in 2016. The Indian man sold clothes to people and allowed them to pay in instalments.

The man reportedly sold clothes door-to-door by riding his motorcycle around and visiting each residence in the area with his goods once a week. He later disappeared from the community in 2017. Local customers were unable to reach him on his mobile phone.

Autsama described the man as a good person with good manners. She was confident that he only sold clothes and was not involved in any illegal activities.

Autsama also suggested that the man may have been murdered and robbed, as he always wore a diamond ring that was missing when his body was found.

Police are currently reviewing security camera footage near the location where the body was found, as well as along the road, to identify and apprehend the murderer.

ORIGINAL STORY: Resident finds lifeless body of foreign man in southern Thailand

A resident today stumbled upon the lifeless body of an unidentified foreign man on a roadside in the Takua Thung district in the southern province of Phang Nga.

Sub-District Chief Yutthanakorn Juanjenkit filed a complaint with officers at Khok Kloi Police Station after a local in the area discovered the dead body. The body was found on the side of Ban Na Road at around 7am today, May 15.

Police officers, rescuers, and relevant Thai authorities investigated the scene. According to the DailyNews, the deceased was a foreign man, though his identity has not yet been confirmed. Officers believe he was from a Middle Eastern country.

The man was wearing a yellow polo shirt and black shorts. He sustained a stab wound to his back and wrist, as well as a gunshot wound to the back of his neck. His nose and ears were bleeding, and no personal documents were found on him.

Residents said they did not recognise the man and had never seen him in the community before. Police suspect he was killed elsewhere and then dumped at the location. The motive for the murder is suspected to be a business conflict or theft.

In a related report, the body of an unidentified woman was found on Freedom Beach in Phuket on May 1. No visible wounds were found on her body, and there have been no updates on the case by the police.

In the same month, the lifeless body of an unidentified woman was found near the Chi River in the Isaan province of Roi Et. Officers later arrested a Thai man who confessed to killing her because she threatened to expose their secret relationship to his wife.

Another similar case occurred in April when a man’s body parts were discovered in Nonthaburi province in Bangkok. Further investigation revealed that the remains belonged to a Japanese man, and the two murderers were members of the yakuza gang. The two Japanese suspects fled Thailand to avoid charges and remain at large.