Five senior Din Daeng police station officers have been transferred pending an inquiry into alleged negligence after a gambling den was found operating in their jurisdiction.
The transfer followed a raid on Oct 3 by a 30-strong team of Department of Provincial Administration officers, led by DOPA inspector-general Ronnarong Thipsri.
The raid exposed a gambling den in the middle of the Din Daeng Market community. Authorities seized seven gambling machines, and 54 gamblers were arrested during the operation.
According to Mr Ronnarong, the Interior Ministry’s Damrongtham Justice Provision Centre was tipped off by residents of the nearby Din Daeng flats that a casino owned by a major local influential figure had reopened, after it was closed last year.
Before it was closed, the gambling outlet was robbed by Thanadisai Sompong, or “Mac Anusawaree”, on Aug 24 last year.
The den reopened with a pool club called Champ Snooker as a front. It had five highly secure stainless steel electric doors installed in a labyrinthine entrance way, to evade police, said Mr Ronnarong. It could accommodate at least 200 gamblers at a time.
According to a undercover agent, the gambling den also serviced customers who gamble via video call, and ran an online gambling website.
Pol Maj Gen Atthaphorn Wongsiripreeda, commander of Metropolitan Police Division 1, signed the order transferring to inactive posts five police attached to the station for allowing the gambling den to operate on their watch. The den is only 500 metres from the station.
The officers are the station’s acting superintendent, Pol Col Narawut Raksawong; deputy crime suppression superintendent, Pol Lt Col Suphachai Harnkhamlha; deputy investigation superintendent, Pol Lt Col Todsaphorn Pratchlert; crime suppression inspector, Pol Lt Col Kongjak Thongsian; and investigation inspector, Pol Lt Col Prawit Kongchumphol.
The officers were transferred to an operations centre at MPD 1 headquarters on Oct 3 pending the probe.
A total of 54 gamblers were arrested during the raid. (Photo: Department of Provincial Administration's law enforcement centre)