NAKHON PHANOM: Police are investigating a parents' complaint that one of their two sons had died and the other was seriously injured after they were taken away by soldiers claiming to be from the border drug prevention and suppression centre for the upper Northeast.
On Sunday afternoon, Niwat Saisa, 59, and his wife Pan, 56, filed their complaint with That Phanom police.
They said that about 8.30pm on Friday two or three men in camouflage uniforms arrived in a pickup at their cottage in a rubber plantation near Ban Yang Kham in tambon Ummao of That Phanom district.
They claimed to be soldiers on a drug suppression operation, and took away their two sons, Yutthana, 33, and Nathapong, 29.
Later that night, about 1am, they received a call from a man using Yutthana's phone. The caller did not identify himself. He told them to go to That Phanom Crown Prince Hospital, where their son was being treated for injuries.
They went to the hospital and were informed by doctors and nurses that their eldest son, Yutthana, had died. From Yutthana's appearance, they believed he had been physically beaten.
After filing their complaint, the couple went to a military operations centre at a temple in tambon Fang Daeng, where their two sons had been detained for questioning, to look for their younger son.
There, they found Nathapong, and he was badly hurt. They took him to That Phanom Crown Prince Hospital, where he was found to have two broken ribs and bruising all over his body.
The police accepted the complaint for investigation. The body of Yutthana was sent to the Forensic Medicine Institute in Khon Kaen for an autopsy.
Police were preparing a case for legal action over the injuries to Nathapong, including the result of a physical examination. The process was expected to be completed in one week.
Col Boonsin Phadklang, deputy commander of the Surasakmontree Task Force, on Sunday paid a visit to Nathapong at the hospital.
Col Boonsin said an investigation had been launched into the case. He promised to ensure justice for all concerned, without bias.