Ten members of a police drug suppression team in Songkhla province have been dismissed from the service pending an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of a suspect in detention, police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri said on Thursday.
The dismissal order was signed by Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang. the national police chief.
Earlier, on March 29, the ten officers were transferred to temporary duty at the Royal Thai Police Office operations centre after Teerapat Saereekiatdilok, a drug suspect in their custody, was found beaten and hanged by a belt in a police safehouse in Songkhla.
A post mortem examination at Songklanagarind Hospital found the man had suffered four broken ribs and a lung laceration.
A committee was set up to conduct a disciplinary investigation into the actions of the ten officers. It was headed by Pol Lt Col Tawatchai Sooncharoen, the investigation chief of Khlong Ngae police station in Songkhla.
Under the new order signed by Pol Gen Somyot, the ten have been dismissed from the police service, pending the result of the investigation.