Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police on Sunday morning raided two spots in the northeastern province of Roi-et and arrested a man and his common-law wife for thefts at petrol stations in 14 northeastern provinces.
The raids followed a complaint filed with CSD in January by PTG Agency Plt, which operates PT petrol stations nationwide, that thieves had broken open the safes at 32 PT stations in 14 northeastern provinces and made of with about 2 million baht cash in total.
The thefts usually occurred on Friday, Saturday or Sunday nights when the money from fuel sales had yet to be deposited with banks, and was kept in safes at the petrol stations.
The thieves were skilled in safe-breaking. They wore helmets to cover their faces and gloves to make sure they left no fingerprints, making it difficult for them to be identified from security camera footage.
After an investigation, the CSD managed to gather solid evidence and obtain warrants from the Roi-et Court to search two locations and arrest two suspects – Marut Akkahadsri, 33, and his wife Pusanisa Prasertsang, 26.
On Sunday, a police team led by Pol Col Wiwat Jitsopakul, commander of the CSD’s 3rd sub-division, searched a house at Moo 8 in tambon Niwet of Thawat Buri district and arrested Mr Marut. The police found and seized a steel cutter, a mobile phone, closed-circuit television cameras taken from petrol stations and several other articles as evidence. A Mazda pickup, with a Yasothon licence plate number, was impounded for examination.
In a subsequent search of another house in tambon Nong Phai in Thawat Buri district, the police arrested Ms Pusanisa. The house belonged to Ms Pusanisa’s parents.
Questioning of the two revealed that Mr Marut was jobless while Ms Pusanisa was the manager of a PT station in Yasothon province – and had once received an award for “outstanding station manager” in the northeastern province.
The two allegedly confessed to the theft charges. They said they wanted money to repay non-formal loans as well as to service housing and car loans.