A senior police officer has urged Chinese tourists who were allegedly abducted and extorted money last week by a group of men to come forward and file a complaint to facilitate a police investigation.
Pol Maj Gen Thirachai Chamnanmor, chief investigator attached to the Provincial Police Region 2, said police are looking into the alleged abduction and extortion of two Chinese tourists on July 10, but need details to pursue the case.
He was referring to media reports that a group of men claiming to be policemen forced a rented car with two Chinese tourists to stop for a search. The tourists were allegedly taken to a house and demanded to pay 700,000 baht in exchange for their freedom.
Based on the initial investigation, five men were involved in the alleged abduction and extortion and one of them was identified as a police corporal attached to Provincial Police Region 2, said Pol Maj Gen Thirachai.
He said the police corporal was questioned about the incident and he denied the allegations of abduction and extortion. According to the policeman's statement, he and the other civilians stopped the tourist car for examination and let them go when their identification papers were valid.
Pol Maj Gen Thirachai said that a fact-finding investigation will be conducted into the incident and that unless the victims file a complaint and give details, the investigation will face problems.
However, he said police are gathering information so they can locate the victims and question them about the incident. He added that the rented car company who gave information to "Sai Mai Tong Rod" page was a secondary source of information.
