A manhunt has been launched following the brutal assault of a man claiming to have been detained for five days, beaten, tied up and thrown into the Bang Pakong River by anti-government protest guards.
Photos of Yuem Nillar’s extensive bruising were uploaded to the Facebook pages of the Transport Safety Centre and the police spokesman team.
The man narrowly escaped drowning when a passer-by dragged him from the water.
Pol Maj Staporn Sorntem, an interrogator at Bang Pakong police station, yesterday questioned the victim, Yuem Nillar, at Bang Pakong Hospital in Chachoengsao province after he was rescued from the river on Saturday.
Mr Yuem, a security guard at a company in Bangkok, said he was resting in Lumpini Park after finishing work on the morning of Feb 24, when two men claiming to be People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) protesters approached him demanding to conduct a search.
During their search, the men found a card issued in 2010 which said Mr Yuem was a member of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship, so they detained him at the PDRC rally site.
Mr Yuem claims he was tied up and detained in a PDRC tent for five days until Saturday evening, when he was blindfolded and led to a pickup truck. The guards then told him they would take him home, but instead he was taken to a bridge over the Bang Pakong River.
He was thrown into the river blindfolded, with his hands and feet tied. He claims to have struggled free of his bonds and then clung to one of the bridge's pillars until he was saved by a swimmer.
Mr Yuem's account and photos of his injuries were posted on the Facebook page of the Transport Safety Centre and the police spokesman team.
PDRC co-leader Taworn Senneum said the PDRC would cooperate with police investigations.