A man claiming to be a police colonel has been arrested in Songkhla’s Sathing Phra district for swindling money from temples in the South, police said.
Pramot Maneeroj, 60, a native of tambon Kradang-nga in Sathing Phra district, was wearing a police uniform with the rank of a police colonel when police stopped his car in Khor Hong municipality in Hat Yai district on Wednesday.
Seized from him were a 9mm pistol and 12 bullets. The man was taken to Sathing Phra police station.
The arrest of the suspect followed complaints that he had swindled money from several temples in the South. To prey on abbots and monks, Mr Pramot claimed to be a senior police officer named Pol Col Khomkrit Wongsawat of Surat Thani province, Pol Col Athip Saengwanloi, chief of Sathing Phra police station, said at a press conference.
The suspect had offered to host krathin robe-giving and pha pa religious ceremonies and asked temples to advance money to him to prepare the events. After the money was handed over, he fled.
Records showed the suspect had swindled money from four temples in Songkhla, one temple in Surat Thani, one temple in Krabi and two temples in Chumphon between 2009 and 2014. He was wanted on nine arrest warrants for swindling, wearing a police uniform, theft and illegal possession of firearms.
Police urged anyone who had fallen victim to the suspect to come forward to identify him at Sathing Phra police station.
Bogus police colonel Pramot Maneeroj, in uniform, is surrounded by plainclothes police in Songkhla. (Photo by Wichayant Boonchote)