Warrants have been issued for the arrests of three Chinese men in connection with the kidnap and murder of a Chinese university student whose body was found dumped in a ditch in Nonthaburi province on Saturday.
National police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas said yesterday that police investigators had identified the suspects they believe carried out the abduction and murder of Jin Can, a 22-year-old music student at Bangkok Thonburi University.
The student appeared to have been stabbed in the right shoulder five times and had a towel tied around her neck before her death, he said. The body had been dumped in a sack in a plantation in Bang Yai district.
Surveillance camera footage showed the suspects abducting the victim from the university last Tuesday. The Mazda car they drove off in was traced to a rented house in a luxury housing estate in Bang Yai where evidence of her detention was found, according to Pol Maj Gen Nopasilp Poolsawat, deputy Bangkok police chief.
Detectives learned that the gang then used the WeChat chat application to demand a ransom of 500,000 yuan (2.5 million baht) from her father in China. After receiving the message, which was accompanied by a picture of his daughter with her wrists and ankles tied, he then asked the university about her whereabouts.
The university said Jin was last seen on campus between 5pm and 7pm last Tuesday, while Pol Gen Damrongsak said there may also have been a love affair involved in the crime.
“The investigation found that the suspects have fled abroad. Red notices will be issued, and Chinese police will be coordinated to bring them to task. Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn has been assigned to coordinate,” said the police chief.
Thailand and Chinese have worked closely in dealing with crimes involving Chinese nationals, he added.
Meanwhile, police led by Pol Col Somphon Wongsrisunthorn, deputy chief of Nonthaburi police, searched the rented house in Bang Yai district again on Monday as they believe it is the location where the murder took place.
Police said a woman had rented this house for one month, and the contract was signed on March 20. On the night of March 29, she contacted the house owner to return the house, claiming that she had to urgently return to her country and asked for part of the money that she had paid in advance.
Witnesses told police that they saw the Mazda car leaving the housing estate around 8.20pm on March 29, and it never returned.