Ex-local leader among 3 suspects arrested in Ayutthaya gold shop robbery

Ex-local leader among 3 suspects arrested in Ayutthaya gold shop robbery

A security camera recording shows the robbery sweeping up gold necklaces at Yaowarat M Gold shop inside a Lotus shopping mall in Sena district, Ayutthaya, on Nov 4. (Photo supplied/ Sunthorn Pongpao)
A security camera recording shows the robbery sweeping up gold necklaces at Yaowarat M Gold shop inside a Lotus shopping mall in Sena district, Ayutthaya, on Nov 4. (Photo supplied/ Sunthorn Pongpao)

AYUTTHAYA: All three men allegedly involved in the 2-million-baht holdup of a gold shop at a mall in Sena district were arrested separately overnight, one of them was a former local politician.

Investigators from the Provincial Police Region 1 and Ayutthaya police first apprehended two of the three suspects in Sena around 8.45pm on Friday.  The third suspect, who staged the robbery, was later in the early hours of Saturday, said a police source.

The suspect who was a former local politician had been questioned by police on his alleged involvement in illicit drugs in 2018, according to an initial investigation.

The names of the suspects were not yet disclosed.

The robbery took place at Yaowarat M Gold shop at Lotus’s shopping mall in Sena around 11am on Nov 4. A lone robber jumped over the showcase and quickly swept gold necklaces from trays into his shoulder bag. He then ran out of the shop and fled on a motorcycle. The entire robbery took less than one minute. 

Pol Maj Gen Pheeraphong Wongsamarn, deputy chief of the Provincial Police Region 1, said police would search four locations in the district on Saturday to find evidence linked to the robbery. 

The stolen gold - 39 gold necklaces weighing 59 baht – was being retrieved as the suspects had sold them in areas outside Ayutthaya, he added.

Details of the robbery and the arrest of the suspects would be provided during a press briefing on Saturday.


Do you like the content of this article?
COMMENT (5)

Chalermchai to step down as Democrat secretary-general

Chalermchai Sri-on, the caretaker minister of agriculture and cooperatives, said yesterday he had decided to step down as secretary-general of the Democrat Party when it selects its new leader and executives on July 13.

30 May 2023

Transition team

Coalition parties set up a transition team to pave the way for governing, with seven urgent issues identified. Move Forward and Pheu Thai, meanwhile, say they’ll discuss the House speaker issue separately.

30 May 2023

Chevron, PTTEP granted licences in Gulf

The Department of Mineral Fuels has awarded petroleum exploration and production licences to increase gas supply from the Gulf of Thailand and reduce power bills over the long term.

30 May 2023