Files retrieved from a closed-circuit television (CCTV) server, previously installed at the house of the former subdistrict head Praween Chankhlai, also known as Kamnan Nok, in Muang district, Nakhon Pathom province, have shown conflicting accounts from individuals present at a dinner party on the night of Sept 6, police said.
The incident resulted in the fatal shooting of Pol Maj Siwakorn Saibua, an officer attached to highway police station 1 of the Highway Police Sub-division 2, with Pol Lt Col Wasin Pandee, deputy commander of the Highway Police Sub-division 2, sustaining injuries. The gunman, Thananchai Manmak, was subsequently killed in a gunfight with the police in Kanchanaburi province.
Deputy national police chief Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, speaking to a press conference at the Provincial Police Region 7 headquarters on Thursday, said there were a total of 15 CCTVs installed at Mr Praween's house. Following the fatal shooting, two CCTV servers were removed and dumped into a canal behind a temple in tambon Takong in an apparent attempt to conceal or destroy evidence.
Pol Gen Surachate said the servers had been retrieved and forensic police managed to salvage 13 out of the 15 files in one of them.
The CCTV footage provided clear images and audio, enabling law enforcement to identify individuals present at the scene and their actions both before and after the shooting. Two additional files were in the process of being salvaged and were expected to be available for review by Friday, he said.
Pol Gen Surachate said more than 56 individuals, including both police and civilians, were present at the party. Some have been arrested and charged with suspected involvement in the crime, and all have undergone interrogation.
Compared to what was seen in the footage, those who had been interrogated were found to have given contradictory statements. Therefore, a further round of interrogations would be conducted, said the deputy national police chief.
The footage indicated that nearly all the police and civilians attending the party were armed, and after the first shot fired by the gunman, no one tried to intervene, he said.
He added that the people who were present at the scene could be categorised into three groups: those who took the two police officers who were shot to the hospital, those who fled the scene and those who remained at the crime scene.
Pol Gen Surachate also confirmed that the gunman was indeed Thananchai Manmak.
Whether Thananchai had been ordered by Mr Praween to commit the crime might be made clear after the two other files were salvaged and examined. The other server recovered from the canal was being salvaged by forensic police, he said.