Student gunned down in love triangle slaying

PHUKET TOWN: Police are hunting a gang behind the execution-style slaying of a student in a Phuket Town street on Friday night. Inquiries have led officers to believe that the killing was over a love triangle. The student, Niwat Kamplong, was shot down in Rassadanusorn Rd about 10 pm on Friday when he failed to escape his pursuers, who were chasing him in a car. His attackers fired four shots at him. Three of the .38 bullets hit him in the back and neck. He died less than an hour later. Pol Capt Sarit Butnongsaen said, “One witness said he saw K. Niwat turn onto Thepkrasattri Rd from the road leading to Rajabhat Phuket Institute, then saw three or four men in a car accelerate to pull up alongside him. When he saw them, he did a U-turn and then turned into Rassadanusorn Rd, trying to escape from them. “But he couldn’t get away from the car. One of the men fired at him four times and he crashed to the ground. “We have been trying to identify the murderers and establish their motive for the killing,” he said, adding that police believe K. Niwat was murdered because he had a crush on a woman. An ex-boyfriend who had been trying to woo her back was believed to be behind the shooting.