4 suspects sought as casualties pile up
SURAT THANI: The Khirirat Nikhom police chief has been transferred pending an investigation into a lethal attack by three gunmen, led by an officer under his command, on a family’s home in his district on Saturday, deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn said yesterday.
Pol Gen Surachate said four people were involved in the attack in total, with officers also now searching for the fourth fugitive.
The suspects are Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn Wichian, his elder brother Thammarat, his son Atthapol, and Manop Wang-ngan. Three of them stormed into the house and are believed to have been armed with two M16 rifles and one 9mm pistol. Atthapol reportedly drove them there.
Four people were slain — house owner Thammarong Nilniyom, his wife Nilthip Palakachen, Pornsak Phetchu, and Thammarat, one of the gunmen. Thammarat was believed to have been shot dead by one of the victims, who returned fire.
On Sunday, the Surat Thani Court approved warrants for the arrest of Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn, who is stationed in Khirirat Nikhom district, and Mr Manop on murder charges.
That same night Atthapol, Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn’s son by a former wife, was found dead in a car parked inside a temple in Ban Takhun district where funeral rites for Thammarat were being held. His hands were tied and he had been shot in the right temple.
On Monday morning, Panida Nilniyom, Thammarong’s only daughter and the wife of Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn, was found dead at a resort in tambon Tha Khanon, Khirirat Nakhom district. She had been shot in the mouth.
On Monday afternoon, Mr Manop, one of the two prime suspects, was arrested in Thap Put district, Phangnga province. Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn was still at large as of yesterday.
Pol Gen Surachate said Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn had fled with an M16 rifle and a 9mm pistol.
He said he had ordered Khirirat Nikhom police station to report to him about the distribution of weapons since the two M16s reportedly used in Saturday’s attack might belong to the station.
Pol Lt Gen Surapong Thanomchit, the commissioner of Provincial Police Region 8, issued an order transferring Pol Col Kriangkrai Ketkaew, the Khirirat Nikhom police chief, to assist at the Region 8 operations centre, pending an investigation into Saturday’s attack and the deaths of the six people.
Pol Gen Surachate said Thammarong had previously been shot and wounded by an assailant using a military-grade weapon on Dec 31, 2022, but police did not investigate the incident.
The investigation panel would find out whether it was related to Saturday’s attack, he said.
In Bangkok, national police chief Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittiprapas on Monday night confirmed the arrest of Mr Manop in Phangnga province.
From the evidence at hand, a forensic examination of those killed and the timeline, it was initially believed Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn had killed his wife Panida at the resort before going with the three other suspects to the house in Khirirat Nikhom district where four others were slain, he said.
A feud between Pol Snr Sgt Maj Atthaporn and his father-in-law Thammarong might be the motive for the attack, he added.
Other media reports identified Thammarong as a former village headman.