The army has vowed not to spare any soldiers if they are found to have been involved in the abduction and extortion of a Ukrainian couple in Phuket.
Army chief Udomdej Sitabutr said on Saturday that he would launch an inquiry into the arrest by police of five soldiers from the Nakhon Si Thammarat-based 41st army circle.
Gen Udomdej admitted that the army, with 230,000 troops under its command, has both good and bad people like any other large organisation. Any officer who acts unlawfully will face legal and disciplinary action, said the army chief.
His comments followed the arrest by Phuket police on Friday of 10 men, including five soldiers, for their alleged roles in the abduction of Maryna Lemnanova, 32, and her husband Igor Lermanov, 37, from Ukraine.
Police said the gang had taken the couple hostage overnight at a house in Muang district of the resort province and demanded a 6-million-baht ransom.
The gang freed Ms Lemnanova so that she could withdraw money from the Tesco Lotus branch of Kasikornbank in tambon Rawai in Muang district on Dec 18.
But the woman immediately went to the police, who then devised a plan to catch the suspects.
The officers asked the woman to tell the gang that she could not withdraw the money from her husband’s account. She returned to the gang and asked them to take her husband to the Chalong branch of Siam Commercial Bank to withdraw one million baht from his account. The couple promised to pay the remaining 5 million in monthly installments.
When the gang arrived at the SCB branch, police were waiting and all 10 were arrested.
Maj Gen Theenachat Jindangern, commander of the 41st army circle, denied that his subordinates had been involved in the alleged abduction.
Speaking at a news conference on Saturday in Phuket, Maj Gen Theenachat said there might have been a misunderstanding regarding the matter.
Phuket governor Nisit Chansomwong was also present at the news conference.