Four police officers attached to Thong Lor police station gave DNA and fingerprint samples as part of the investigation into 11 guns found missing from the station -- in what a senior officer believed was an inside job.
Pol Maj Gen Mongkhol Warunno, chief of the Metropolitan Police Division 5, said the 11 guns -- nine revolvers and two Sig Sauers -- were found missing from the Thong Lor police station in downtown Bangkok during checks in March following the replacement of the station chief.
After the guns were found missing from the station’s finance room on the third floor, an investigation was launched, Pol Maj Gen Mongkhol said after a meeting with Thong Lor police investigators.
The Metropolitan Police Division 5 chief said he believed it was an inside job, since the guns had been properly secured in a location inaccessible to outsiders.
He vowed to take disciplinary and criminal action against those involved in the removal of the police firearms.
“Those who took the guns from the station’s room will face disciplinary and criminal action according to police procedures for negligence of duty and graft involving state assets,’’ said Pol Maj Gen Mongkhol.
There were reports that forensic officers collected DNA and fingerprint tests from four police officers tasked with issuing the station’s weapons.
The investigation team was examining footage from closed-circuit television cameras during the past 1-2 months.
Investigators had reportedly obtained some clues and believed the 11 guns were not all taken from the room at the same time. The suspects were believed to have sold the stolen guns on the black market or in gambling dens for a price of up to 30,000 baht each, Thai media reported.