New Din Daeng flat protest woes

New Din Daeng flat protest woes

Tenants say youth have injured them

Police clash with protesters at Din Daeng intersection on Monday evening, before seizing improvised explosive devices, catapults and marbles. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)
Police clash with protesters at Din Daeng intersection on Monday evening, before seizing improvised explosive devices, catapults and marbles. (Photo: Wichan Charoenkiatpakul)

Tenants of the Din Daeng flats have filed a police complaint against protesters for allegedly assaulting them.

A group of tenants lodged the complaint with Din Daeng police on Wednesday against the protesters who gather at the Din Daeng intersection nightly and often engaged in violent clashes with crowd-control police, said Pol Maj Gen Piya Tawichai, deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB).

Some protesters had fled police by escaping into the flats. The residents who filed the complaint said they were physically harmed, some critically, by protesters and decided to take legal action.

Pol Maj Gen Piya said investigators were searching for the attackers. He added other residents subject to similar attacks should step forward.

Earlier, another group of residents demanded compensation for damage to their Din Daeng flats caused by the protesters. They also went to Din Daeng police to file a complaint.

Pol Maj Gen Piya insisted no police had entered the flats to launch anti-riot operations.

However, if evidence could be produced of flats suffering any damage as a result of the police operations, the Royal Thai Police would accept full responsibility, he said.

The MPB deputy commissioner said the Din Daeng intersection protest on Tuesday night lasted longer than previous rallies.

The rally, engineered by the Thalu Gas group, began in the late afternoon and carried on until two in the morning. The mostly young protesters hurled flares, giant firecrackers and ping-pong bombs at the police.

The protesters also spread nails on nearby Vibhavadi Rangsit, Din Daeng and Rama IX roads, puncturing the tyres of police vehicles and those belonging to the general public. The car owners have complained to the police.

Police also managed to catch a youth involved in the recent torching of the arch commemorating Her Majesty Queen Sirikit The Queen Mother along the expressway close to the Din Daeng protest site.

Parents of the suspect, who is under 18, were also called to assist in the police investigation.

Although not yet charged, the suspect could face prosecution under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, also known as the lese majeste law.

Pol Maj Gen Piya added police will summon for questioning on Sept 18 a 14-year-old hit by a police vehicle during an operation to retake the Din Daeng intersection from protesters late on Sunday.

He said the police vehicle was racing from the scene after it was surrounded by protesters who bashed the vehicle. The policeman behind the wheel also heard an explosion outside, prompting him to try to leave the scene in haste, and as he was doing so the vehicle hit the 14-year-old.

The deputy commissioner said the boy appeared to have sustained bruises.

Meanwhile, Natchanon Srikorkua, a Bhumjathai Party MP for Songkhla and spokesman of the House committee on police affairs, said the Thalu Gas members engaging in the clashes with police should be called rioters, not protesters as they carried and used weapons with intent to harm.

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