KANCHANABURI: The body of a male DJ, 33, who had gone missing four days previously was found in a remote forest in Muang district in this western Thai province on Sunday, with tied hands and bullet wounds in a temple. Police suspect a romantic conflict.
According to police sources, police and rescue workers found the body of Waraphong Khunsrijaturong in a forest in tambon Lat Ya. They had to travel on four-wheel-drive vehicles for twenty minutes and walked for another five minutes to reach the scene.
The body lay on one side and was already decaying. The dead man's hands were tied behind his back, and there were two bullet wounds in one temple.
A villager told police he had seen the body three days ago but had been too afraid to approach it.
After his family saw reports about the missing man, the villager returned to the scene and found the body wearing the same clothing as the DJ just before his disappearance.
The girlfriend of the deceased said she had warned him to stay away from another woman identified only as Nam, and he said he had stopped seeing her.
Wichian, the father of the victim, said the murder was very cruel and he hoped police would do their best to find the culprits.
Waraphong aka DJ Tatae was seen in CCTV footage happily working at a woman's birthday party at a pub shortly before his abduction.
Two men, identified as Thanadet and Wikool, were suspected of driving a white pickup truck to capture the DJ in Muang district at 3.54am last Wednesday. Both were arrested and denied any wrongdoing.
Police were hunting for another man who drove a black car to the house of Thanadet and Wikool in tambon Wang Dong of Muang district. The third suspect had waited in the locality for two weeks before the murder.
The black car was finally found in Photharam district, Ratchaburi. It had been thoroughly washed but its dash camera recorded a trip into the deep forest of Kanchanaburi near the location where the body was found, about 20 kilometres away from the abduction spot.
Waraphong Khunsrijaturong was seen in his picture posted on the Facebook account Waraphong Khunsrijaturong on May 3.