A security guard at a gambling venue in Samut Prakan’s Muang district that was robbed last week has reported to police, and insisted that although he and the robbers both fired shots no-one was hurt
Wutthipong Khotsaen, 28, was named in an arrest warrant issued by the Samut Prakan Provincial Court for illegal possession of a weapon and discharging it illegally in a public place.
He reported to Pol Col Phumphat Phattarasriwongchai, deputy chief at Muang police station in Samut Prakan, on Monday.
The robbery came to light when the popular community Facebook page Sai Mai Tong Rod (Sai Mai District Must Survive) reported that eight armed men had robbed a gambling den on Srinakarin Road in Muang district on the night of Nov 9, leading to a shootout that the administrator of the page said left one person dead and one wounded. The robbers reportedly got away with 400,000 baht.
Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, a deputy national police chief, later spoke with the administrator of the Facebook page and sent his own people to investigate. They found there had been a shooting at an illegal gambling den, but no one had died.
The revelation led to the transfer of four senior officers at Muang police station. Pol Col Termrat Jindawat, the station chief, was among those moved to the provincial police operations centre after he initially claimed he had not been informed about the incident. He later phoned Pol Gen Surachate and admitted the shooting had occurred.
During questioning, Mr Wutthipong told police that he and two assistants had been working as guards inside the gambling den for two days. He said seven men arrived on three motorcycles arrived on the night of Nov 9. They parked their bikes in front of the premises. Two of them, carrying guns, entered the building and the five other armed men stood guard out front.
The two men who went inside shouted orders for everyone to lie down. They then robbed them. One of them threatened a woman with a gun in demanding she hand him her gold necklace. Before leaving, the men fired two gunshots into the sky, according to the guard.
Mr Wutthipong said he fired two shots into the sky in response. The robbers then fled on their motorcycles toward Srinakharin Road. He insisted nobody was killed or injured by the shots.
Police have so far obtained warrants for the arrest of two men, including Mr Wutthipong.
On Friday, a man identified only as Aow who owns a restaurant called Khrua Ban Lung, which was alleged to be the gambling venue, told police he had heard a gunshot from his table in the restaurant. He went outside to see what happened. He did not see anyone injured and there was no sign of the shooter.
Police and forensic officers went to his restaurant on Friday to look for any evidence, and questioned the restaurant owner about the incident.
They did not find gambling equipment in the restaurant, and the security cameras had been removed.
