Three southern policemen were transferred to inactive posts and investigated for allegedly kidnapping another policeman and friends for a 500,000-baht ransom in Songkhla province in March.
Pol Capt Dechawat Makkham, an interrogator of the Hat Yai police station, said on Monday that he was gathering evidence for the alleged abduction and would report his findings to the National Anti-Corruption Commission within 30 days.
Pol Sen Sgt Maj Theerayut Suwannarat, Pol Sen Sgt Maj Sirapop Muennu and Pol Sen Sgt Maj Pirachat Wanseng, together with other suspects, allegedly abducted Pol Cpl Sanyalak Jandam of the Kapho police station in Pattani province and five friends on Rattana Uthit Road in Hat Yai district of Songkhla on March 26 and 27.
The abductees were detained at a nearby house on Tha Sai-Bang Yee Road where they were ordered to pay a ransom of 500,000 baht, Pol Cpl Sanyalak said. Later, the ransom was cut to 200,000 baht. They were released after they partially paid in cash and left Pol Cpl Sanyalak's car as a guarantee for the remaining payment. However, the car was later sold to another person in Hat Yai district.
Pol Sanyalak said that a woman who claimed to be the wife of a policeman told him to drop the charge or he would be framed for drug possession.
Pol Capt Dechawat said that the Provincial Police Region 9 already transferred the three suspects pending the probe. Investigators were checking their past activities, money trails, the house used for the detention and eyewitnesses, he said.