Six senior monks, including the well-known activist Phra Buddha Isara, have been defrocked after they were denied bail in court, resulting in them being sent to jail following their arrest on Thursday.

Some 200 police commandos made coordinated raids on temples and arrested senior monks for alleged embezzlement, including members of the Sangha Supreme Council.

At Wat Or Noi in Nakhon Pathom's Kamphaeng Saen district, police arrested abbot Phra Buddha Isara, who gained notoriety for his support of the Bangkok Shutdown movement in 2013-14.

He is the subject of an arrest warrant issued by the Criminal Court on charges of ang-yee (running an illegal secret organisation) and forging royal names.

The case against Phra Buddha Isara relates to a group of anti-Yingluck Shinawatra government demonstrators he led which robbed Special Branch police of guns during their protest on Feb 10, 2014.

The case also involves using the initials of the names of the late King Rama IX and Her Majesty the Queen of the late King on the back of Buddhist amulets without royal permission.

Investigators took the abbot to the Criminal Court to seek approval for an initial 12-day period of detention. Police opposed bail.

After the court approved the detention request, the National Office of Buddhism (OB) asked three monks from Wat Samiannaree to perform the defrocking of the monk at the court.

The 59-year-old Phra Buddha Isara, now known as Suwit Thongprasert, was escorted to the Bangkok Special Remand where he will be detained.

Monks who are sent to jail have to leave the monkhood first.

Devotees said that they intend to apply for bail for the former monk on Friday.

Forces from the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) had search and arrest warrants for the 6am raids at Wat Sam Phraya, Wat Sa Ket and Wat Samphanthawong in Bangkok, and Wat Or Noi in Nakhon Pathom.

CSD police took five senior monks arrested in Thursdays raids to the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases, again seeking an initial 12-day period of detention and opposing bail. The court approved the request. They were also taken to the Bangkok Special Remand prison.

Among the five arrested monks are Phra Phrom Dilok, the abbot of Wat Sam Phraya in Bangkok, and his secretary, Phra Atthakit Sophon. They were charged with temple fund embezzlement.

The other three arrested monks are Phra Sri Khunaporn,Phra Wichit Thammaporn and Phra Khru Siriwihankansomjit, assistant abbots of Wat Sa Ket.

Four laymen were also apprehended. They are Nuchara Sitthinok, Kimkamporn Niponpittaya, Thirapon and Tawit Sangyu, a 42-year-old official of Wat Saket.

The monks and the laymen were charged with embezzling funds for a Buddhist school project and money laundering.

Phra Phrom Sitthi, abbot of Wat Sa Ket, and Phra Phrom Methee, assistant abbot of Wat Samphanthawong, were still being sought. They are wanted on charges of embezzling temple funds.

According to a report from the National Office of Buddhism, His Holiness the Supreme Patriarch has dismissed Phra Phrom Sitthi, Phra Phrom Methee and Phra Phrom Dilok as members of the Sangha Supreme Council (SSC). The SSC will meet on May 30 to consider whether to remove them from the governing posts in the clergy which requires a resolution from the meeting.

Temple staff said they last saw Phra Phrom Sitthi, Wat Sa Ket's abbot, at about 4 pm on Wednesday when he told them he would inspect construction work in the temple's compound.

Police were surprised to find a secret exit from the temple to Bamrung Muang Road, which detectives had not seen before.

Immigration Bureau chief Pol Lt Gen Sutthipong Wongpin said on Thursday that the immigration bureau has now blacklisted Phra Phrom Sitthi and immigration checkpoints have been instructed to keep an eye out and prevent him from leaving the country.

Police suspect certain monks at Wat Sa Ket of embezzling money from two Buddhism-related projects worth 69 million baht.

Police said the abbot had 10 bank accounts and about 130 million baht had passed through them. All funds in the accounts have been frozen.