A security task force has launched a major operation in Nakhon Pathom following a series of high-profile crimes, including the rapes of 10 elderly women.
The operation began early Saturday morning when more than 300 soldiers, police officers, local administration officials and security volunteers began patrolling parts of the province.
Nakhon Pathom has been making headlines since the beginning of the year. A video clip of a gang of teenagers repeatedly firing a gun into the air during New Year celebrations in the province went viral and attracted media attention.
On Thursday, a noodle vendor in Nakhon Chaisi district was gunned down by another teenage gang.
But Pol Maj Gen Poolsap Prasertsak, deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 7, said the rapes of elderly women have caused the most distress among residents of Nakhon Pathom. The 10 attacks — two of which ended in murder — occurred over the past five years, and police believe they are the work of a serial rapist.
Five of the attacks happened in Nakhon Pathom, four in neighbouring Samut Songkhram and the other in Samut Sakhon.
The latest attack happened last Sunday in Nakhon Chaisi district. After killing her dog with poison, the rapist attacked a 73-year-old woman while she was sleeping in her bedroom.
Police have now released a third suspect arrested in the course of the investigation.
The latest suspect was a 43-year-old, well-built man who is about 170cm tall and closely resembles an Identikit picture circulated by police, National Police Office spokesman Pol Lt Gen Prawuth Thawornsiri said yesterday.
But DNA taken from the latest suspect did not match samples from the 10 victims, he said.
The samples suggest the rapes were committed by the same man. The suspect had been jailed for a rape committed in Bangkok in 1993 and came to Samut Sakhon and Samut Songkhram for work after having been released in 2008, said Pol Lt Gen Prawuth.
He was released from police custody after the DNA tests proved he was not the rapist.
DNA tests on another two suspects also showed no match.
Police are now focusing their efforts on finding the owner of a blue, long-sleeved T-shirt bearing the word “Prasert” in white lettering. Witnesses claim the rapist wore the garment during the attacks.
The police’s 191 hotline in Nakhon Pathom has been receiving 500 phone calls a day with residents offering possible information about the rapist’s identity.
However, only about 20 callers have been able to give concrete information. Many of the callers were vague and some had called in as a prank.