Alleged hirer of hit men surrenders

PHUKET TOWN: A man who is alleged to have hired three hit men in March to kill a 77-year-old woman, surrendered to police on Wednesday. As reported in the Online Gazette in March, the three hit men, Somporn Paotong, Wannarat Kamsoot, and Soontorn Siripan, were first contacted by Saman Jarnjit, a guard at a prawn farm, who hired them to kill the woman, Siwhoon Sae-Ong, who is a major landowner in the Sam Kong area. The hitmen apparently got cold feet and, instead of killing K. Siwhoon, tried to get her to pay them 25,000 baht to leave her alone. She told them to telephone her the following day, then alerted the police who duly arrested the trio. This led to the subsequent arrest of Saman. Pol Maj Amnuoy Kraiwootthinan of Phuket Town Police Station said that Saman alleged under questioning that the person behind the intended killing was 67-year-old Somnuek Rachai from Sam Kong, also known as Ko Kao. An arrest warrant was issued for Somnuek, who finally reported to the police station on Wednesday morning. Maj Amnuoy said that Somnuek denied all the accusations and was released on bail of 200,000 baht. Investigations will continue, the major added.