KANCHANABURI: A forest ranger who admitted shooting dead the director of a hospital in Si Sawat district on Monday evening claimed he mistook the man for an illegal logger, but police are not convinced that is the case.
Pol Col Jarin Watthanaphaisan, deputy chief of Kanchanaburi provincial police, said there was not even a single log on the back of the pickup truck driven by Chalit Jintana, director of the tambon Plai Na Suan health promotion hospital in Kanchanaburi.
He was speaking after three hours spent questioning Songwut Udom, who turned himself in and confessed to having fired an HK 33 rifle at Chalit, causing his death.
Mr Songwut claimed he aimed only to stop the pickup truck, which he at the time thought was being driven by a member of a gang of log poachers who had been raiding a forest reserve, Pol Col Jarin said.
The fatal shooting occurred on the Mae Lamun-Huay Mae Pla Soi Road in Moo 4 village of Si Sawat district.
A preliminary investigation found bullets flew right through the window of the truck on the driver’s side, hitting the victim. The wounded man apparently left the car and attempted to crawl away. He was found dead near a path on the side of the road not far from his vehicle, Pol Col Jarin said.
Since police found no timber at all on the back of the victim's pickup they suspected the real motive for the shooting could be a personal conflict.
Investigators would look further into this before making any final conclusions on the shooting.
In addition to gunshot wounds to his right side, the dead man had severe wounds to his face which appeared to have been caused by a blunt object.
Mr Songwut was being held on suspicion of murder, Pol Col Jarin said, and was denied bail.