Child wounded as hitmen kill neighbor

PHUKET TOWN: A four-year-old girl was shot in the shoulder as hitmen murdered a man in what police say they suspect was another drug-related execution yesterday afternoon. Bullets hit pig keeper Jaruek Sae Tan, 35, in the chest, chin, back, neck and head and he died outside a no-name restaurant on Chao Fa Nai Rd, behind the Suan Luang Park, about 2:30 pm. The girl, Benz, the daughter of a neighbor, was also hit once. She was rushed to Wachira Phuket Hospital, where she was recovering today. Police say no motive has been established but that they believe the shooting was probably the lastest in a wave of killings and attempted killings as drugs chieftains set out to silence underlings who might be tempted to spill all they know to police in the face of the government crusade against drugs. K. Jaruek’s sister, Thitima Sae Tan, 32, said her brother had told police about a black car with different licence plates in front and back that cruised around the neighborhood streets two or three times on Monday. Police spoke to the people in the car but found nothing suspicious. She said that her brother was sitting watching TV yesterday afternoon in front of the restaurant when two men rode up on a red Honda Wave motorcycle with no plates and parked nearby. From a distance of about four meters, the pillion passenger, wearing sunglasses, fired five shots at K. Jaruek’s back. The pair then fled. Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station, said that so far there are no suspects. Meanwhile, local politician Supachai Rakmit, shot by hitmen in broad daylight on February 15 in Phuket Town, is reported to be recovering in Wachira Phuket Hospital from wounds to his face, neck and leg.