Ex-mayor’s detention extended

PHUKET TOWN: The former mayor of Patong, Dr Anan Ananthanawat, has been remanded in custody for a further 12 days, this time in the Phuket Provincial Prison, while police continue investigations into charges against him. Yesterday, armed with a search warrant, officers took Dr Anan to his house on Mae Luan Rd, Phuket Town. What they found astonished them, said Pol Col Paween Pongsirin, superintendent of Phuket Town Police Station. In a closet in a locked bedroom, the police found a sheaf of papers. Closer examination revealed that the more than 100 pages were copies of evidence amassed by the prosecution in its pursuit of the case against Dr Anan, including testimony from witnesses. “These are secret government documents,” said Col Paween. “It would be very difficult to get them out of the court unless the person who did so was very powerful or had a great deal of knowledge of the inside workings of the judicial system.” He added that he would be launching an investigation into how the papers came to be in Dr Anan’s house, and that anyone found to have been involved would be prosecuted. Dr Anan faces charges of hiring hit men to kill ex-Pol Sub-Lt Weerapol Panrod, of possessing a gun and ammunition without a license, and of forging a government document (for the gun’s registration). He denies all three charges.