A police colonel in Nakhon Nayok has been transferred to an inactive post pending an investigation into an allegation that he ordered his subordinates to extort money from people.
Pol Lt Gen Akaradet Phimonsri, an assistant national police chief, said on Friday that the police colonel, who is a superintendent attached to the Nakhon Nayok provincial police, was transferred to the provincial police operations centre in Nakhon Nayok.
National police chief Pol Gen Torsak Sukvimol said he instructed the Nakhon Nayok police chief, Pol Maj Gen Chak Jittatham, to set up an inquiry panel to look into the case and submit the findings to him.
"A malignant tumour must be cut out. The era of police extorting people must end," the national police chief said.
The police colonel was accused of malfeasance in acquiring ill-gotten gains and causing damage to others in violation of Section 112 of the National Police Act.
According to a Facebook page called Police News Varieties, three officers filed a complaint with the Nakhon Nayok police chief, accusing the police colonel of forcing them to extort money from people.
The Nakhon Nayok police chief, Pol Maj Gen Chak, then called them in for questioning at his office. However, the police colonel also showed up.
A video clip showed him trying to disrupt the questioning.
Pol Maj Gen Chak told him to leave the office, but he declined.
He can be seen standing outside and trying to knock on the door of the office while the Nakhon Nayok police chief questions the three officers.
A police lieutenant colonel who is the superior of the three officers also came to visit Pol Maj Gen Chak at the time the video clip was being recorded.
The clip shows the police colonel prostrating himself before the police lieutenant colonel outside the office in an apparent bid to get the complaint dropped.
"This shows the officer has trouble controlling himself and lacks leadership," police sources said.