Four defence volunteers stole 75 M16 rifles

Four defence volunteers stole 75 M16 rifles

Four defence volunteers in Nakhon Ratchasima province will be charged with the theft of 75 M16 assault rifles from the 1st Volunteer Defence Company armoury in 2011. (Facebook photo of the Volunteer Defence Corps in Nakhon Ratchasima)
Four defence volunteers in Nakhon Ratchasima province will be charged with the theft of 75 M16 assault rifles from the 1st Volunteer Defence Company armoury in 2011. (Facebook photo of the Volunteer Defence Corps in Nakhon Ratchasima)

Police will charge four defence volunteers with stealing 75 M16 assault rifles from their unit's depot in Nakhon Ratchasima province in 2011.

Pol Col Somsak Roekphutthi, chief of the Jor Hor police station in Muang district, said on Friday that investigators discovered that four defence volunteers had taken a total of 75 of the 84 M16 rifles issued to their unit, the 1st Volunteer Defence Company of Nakhon Ratchasima.

They had made oral requests to take the rifles from the armoury, without signing for the weapons, so there was no written record, and they have not returned them, he said.

Only nine rifles remained in the company's armoury, in the compound of the Nakhon Ratchasima provincial hall.

Pol Col Somsak ruled out the possibility that the weapons might be used for acts of terrorism.

The chief of Jor Hor police station, which is responsible for the area, said that police had witnesses who confirmed the four defence volunteers had taken the guns away in a vehicle assigned to the 1st company. Investigators were collecting evidence on the vehicle, its use and whereabouts.

When the evidence was properly collated, police would summon the four volunteers to acknowledge the theft charges, Pol Col Somsak said. The suspects were not identified on Friday.

Defence volunteers are nationwide paramilitary forces under the control of the Ministry of the Interior. Civilian recruits are trained to assist in security matters and also public assistance duties when normal government personnel are inadequate or unavailable.

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