Drug suspect makes a run for it

PHUKET: Torhed Cholahat, one of four suspects arrested on Monday (see https://thethaiger.com/news/index.asp?id=1833 ) for possession and sale of ya bah (metamphetamine), went on the run for seven hours yesterday after leaping out of a police pick-up truck. He was recaptured in a tin mine lagoon by a student who is on the Rajabhat Phuket Institute boxing team. An officer from Thalang Police station, who asked not to be named, told the Gazette, “Yesterday, about 10.30 am, we put all four accused into a police pick-up to take them to the provincial court. “The two women were in the cab and the two men sat in the back. Both were handcuffed to a bar in the back of the truck and were guarded by one officer. “When the truck came to the intersection in front of the entrance to Rajabhat college, we had to stop for a red light. Torhed tugged sharply and his handcuffs came off the bar and he ran quickly into the forest behind Rajabhat Phuket Institute, which covers about 10 rai.” Reinforcements were called in from Phuket Town Police Station to help find and recapture the escapee. As they searched, a student told officers that Torhed had been seen near the college’s teacher accommodation. As the police converged on the area, Torhed spotted them and jumped into a tin mine lagoon. “We surrounded him and told him to get out of the water, but despite all our persuasion, he wouldn’t budge. Then a Rajaphat student, who said he was on the college boxing team, volunteered to dive in and grab Torhed. And that’s what he did,” the Thalang police spokesman said. After more than seven hours on the run, Torhed was finally brought to the provincial court and made his first appearance in the case in the afternoon.