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Published on January 11, 2008

The mother of Akkharapol "Bank" Sampao, a suspect wanted for alleged cop killings, insisted yesterday that her son had contacted police to surrender - shortly before he was found dead with two friends in Ayutthaya.

The mother, Rattana Sampao, said she believed her 22-year-old son was killed extrajudicially by police.

However, police yesterday denied killing the three and claim the deaths were likely to be "silencings" by other criminals.

"Bank" was found with three bullet wounds in his back and arms, with the bodies of Nakhon Kwaenkhetgun, 18, and Mongkol Yatra, 20. Bank had a loaded 11mm pistol in his possession, while Mongkol carried a loaded .22 pistol.

The bodies of the men - all shot in the back - were found on Ban Hip-Uthai Road in Ayutthaya's Uthai district at 4.20am yesterday. Motorbikes belonging to two of the men were found nearby.

The discovery brought an end to a police manhunt for the men, who were accused of killing three policemen on duty in Ayutthaya on New Year's Eve.

Provincial Police Region 1 commissioner, Pol Lt-Gen Rachata Yensuang, identified one of the body's as Akkharapol.

Rachata offered an initial suspicion that Akkharapol, who was wanted on many criminal charges, might have run out of money so he returned to Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya.

There were news reports on Wednesday that Akkharapol had been arrested in Phetchabun, but Rachata said these were incorrect - "Bank" had narrowly escaped. Police did not kill the three men, he said, and their cause of death would be investigated.

But Rattana said she didn't believe that her son was killed by colleagues or "gangsters". She said her son had contacted police to turn himself in through a Bang Pa-in policeman.

She said Akkharapol was supposed to turn himself in on Wednesday morning, when she and Akkharapol's wife were accompanied by Bang Pa-in policemen to a resort in Lop Buri to wait for news of her son's surrender.

She informed reporters at 8am on Wednesday about her son's appointment to turn himself in to police at Ban Nong Lai in Phetchabun's Ban Phai district.

Rattana said she lost contact with her son at about 5pm on Wednesday, after which the Bang Pa-in officers were told by phone to take her and her daughter-in-law home.

She said police must have lured her son and abducted him to another location before he was shot dead.

But Rattana said she would not file a complaint over the matter because of concern for her family's safety. She just wanted society to know her son tried to turn himself in but was killed extrajudicially.

Thai Rath newspaper reported yesterday that Akkharapol was arrested at the Jae Taew Restaurant in Phetchabun, where Rattana said her son had arranged to meet police, but officers later denied this.

Restaurant owner Chamnan Ponsa-ard recalled an incident at about 9.30am on Wednesday, when three men on came on two motorbikes to order some food. After serving them, he and his mother went back to the kitchen.

They heard a truck arrive and people making a loud noise, so Chamnan and his mother hid at the back of restaurant until everything went quiet, he said. They later found the three men had disappeared without paying their bill they served and their motorbikes were gone, he claimed.

"We didn't think much about that because it [customers running away without paying bills] happens often. After we heard the news that the three might be the cop-killer suspects, we were in shock but we cannot confirm if they are the cop-killer suspects because we didn't notice their faces. We cannot remember the faces of those driving them either, but they shouldn't be police," he said.

Colonel Korn-ek Petchchaiwes, who led the manhunt said his team learnt that Akkharapol was hiding in Phetchabun's Nong Phai district - but they went there and found nothing, so they returned to Ayutthaya.

"All day long there were rumours that police had arrested this suspect (Akkharapol), but I confirm that my team did not arrest him and did not kill him extrajudicially," he said.

Later, Dr Suranong Srisuwan, from Thammasat Hospital in Pathum Thani's Khlong Luang district, revealed Akkharapol died from three shotgun blasts. Some 50 shotgun pellets were found in his back, and all his internal organs had been destroyed. There were no other wounds on him, he said.

Akkharapol and his friends were wanted for allegedly killing three Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police officers - Pol Lance Corporal Sila Waen-ngern, 25; Pol Sgt-Maj Preeda Joijutha, 35; and Pol Snr Sgt-Maj Kosin Manprom, 41, on December 31, 2007.

The officers reportedly tried to arrest Akkharapol while he was celebrating the New Year at a relative's home in Bang Pahan district, but were met with a hail of gunfire, after which Akkharapol and his friends fled. Police set a reward of Bt500,000 for information leading to their arrest.

In related news, Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya police and family members of the three slain police held a merit-making ceremony yesterday morning. Pol Snr Sgt-Maj Kosin's wife Sunthri Manprom said she was glad Akkharapol died, no matter who killed him, as he had repaid the bad karma he caused. If he were alive, she would file a lawsuit against him, she said, but since he was dead, she forgave him.

The Nation

AYUTTHAYA