SONGKHLA: A young man arrested for stealing 80 bolts and fastening plates from a railway track allegedly told police he sold them to a scrap dealer for money to buy drugs.
The arrest came after an army patrol from the 5th Infantry Division reported on Monday afternoon that many bolts were missing from rail tracks between Khlong Nage and Padang Besar near Tha Khoi, a Moo 3 village in tambon Padang Besar, Sadao district. A closer check concluded that 80 bolts used to fasten rail joints had been removed. Possible motives were sabotage or common theft with the bolts sold to scrap dealers.
Investigators began questioning junk shops in the area. At one store owned by Krisna Pansaeng on Khao Rup Chang Road in tambon Padang Besar, security camera footage showed two youths arriving on a motorcycle and selling the stolen railway bolts.
Ong-art Phuakphong, 18, of Moo 3 village in tambon Padang Besar, was subsequently arrested. The other suspect was a 17-year-old from the same village.
Mr Ong-art allegedly admitted stealing the bolts and selling them for money to buy narcotics. He was handed over to Padang Besar police for legal proceedings. Officers were still looking for the other suspect.
Meanwhile, in Nakhon Ratchasima, three suspects were arrested for killing a man whose body was found in a paddy field in Bua Yai district on Monday, police said.
Police identified two of the suspects as Suthep Channoy and Thirapat Setpakdi. The third was a 15-year-old boy. The first two surrendered to Bua Yai police on Monday night, and the third did so yesterday morning. During police questioning, they allegedly admitted to killing 39-year-old Wirat Songnok.