Two more police charged in Big C slaying

PHUKET TOWN: Two Songkhla policemen accused of conspiracy to murder Phuket businessman Visanuwat Ngamjun, who was shot in his car in front of the Big C supercenter on February 28, turned themselves in to the Phuket Town Police on Tuesday morning. Pol Lt Col Paween Pongsirin, Superintendent of the Phuket Town Police Station, named the suspects as Pol Sgt Maj Chian Maneechot and Pol Sen Sgt Maj Chaosing Suwanon, both officers of the Songkhla Police Station. Both men denied the charges and were released on bail of 200,000 baht apiece on the same day. Col Paween told the Gazette that police believe one of the men charged was the gunman. An arrest warrant for the suspected mastermind of the killing had been applied for, he added, but had been denied by the court. Police would re-apply after more evidence was gathered, he said. A third Songkhla police officer, Pol Sgt Maj Somchai Pintongpan, was arrested and also charged with conspiracy to murder in late May, and was later released on 300,000-baht bail. Col Paween said at the time of Somchai’s release that he had provided officers with information useful for arresting other suspects in the case. All three men are now in Songkhla. Col Paween would not say whether they were still working at the police station. Police theorize that a love affair involving K. Visanuwat and the mastermind’s wife was a possible motive for the murder.