The Corrections Department has dismissed from government service an official who is alleged to have been involved in the shooting that killed a highway police officer and injuring another at the house of an influential kamnan (tambon chief) in Nakhon Pathom on Wednesday night.
Sithi Sutheewong, the department's director-general, identified the official as Thitinan Intonwong who was assigned to work at the Ratchaburi Central Prison, not at the Khao Bin Prison as earlier reported.
Mr Thitinan had been arrested, the director-general said. He was alleged by police to be the person who removed a server from the closed-circuit television camera at the house of Praween Chankhlai, 35, the kamnan of tambon Takong in Muang district, Nakhon Pathom province, following the shooting at a dinner party that killed a highway police officer and injured another. Mr Thitinan is then believed to have thrown the server into the water to help cover up the crime.
Mr Sitthi said he had asked the police to confirm in writing the arrest and detention of Mr Thitinan.
He had also set up a committee to conduct a serious disciplinary investigation of Mr Thitinan and issued an order dismissing him from government service, pending the investigation result. His employment contract had also been revoked.
Mr Sitthi said he would not intervene to protect Mr Thitinan from any criminal action taken against him by the police.