Police have set up several different panels to probe a police lieutenant arrested on charges of robbing a gold shop in Thung Yai district in Nakhon Si Thammarat.
Royal Thai Police deputy spokesman Pol Col Kritsana Pattanacharoen said Pol Lt Meechai Chorsom, 37, is under internal investigations by the police agency after he was arrested at the Nong Chik police station in Nong Chik district, Pattani, on Friday for allegedly robbing the Jiraporn gold shop in Thung Yai on Wednesday.
A CCTV image provided by police shows a man reaching through the security grille at the Jiraporn gold shop during the course of the robbery on Wednesday.
He took only one minute to make off with 20-baht weight (304 grammes) of gold ornaments - worth about 400,000 baht - by forcing a saleswoman at gunpoint to hand them over to him before fleeing on a motorcycle, it was alleged.
The police officer denies the accusations.
The deputy spokesman said a panel is looking into the possibility that Pol Lt Meechai used a pistol stolen from the police agency. A fact-finding committee is working on the robbery case, and Pol Col Kritsana could be forced to resign or expelled from the agency if he is found guilty. Another panel is investigating whether his boss may have failed to give him adequate supervision, Pol Col Kritsana added.
Pol Lt Meechai was taken from the Nong Chik police station to the Thung Yai police station for further questioning on Sunday.
Nakhon Si Thammarat police chief Pol Maj Gen Wanchai Ekpornpich on Sunday reiterated that he was confident that investigators could prove a case against him.
- Earlier report: Policeman held in gold shop heist