Pol Gen Thani takes over probes on protesters

National Police chief General Patcharawat Wongsuwan issued an order to reshuffle responsibilities for his top generals, which saw Thani taking charge of greater Bangkok and Jongrak overseeing Provincial Police regions 1-4.

The reassignment followed shortly after Jongrak was instructed by Patcharawat to supervise cases involving the red shirts.

Thani and his assistant Lt General Aswin Kwanmuang are seen as close to the Democrat Party, but Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thuagsuban denied speculation that he was behind the switch in work for Thani.

Metropolitan Police chief Lt General Worapong Chiewpreecha met with investigators on the case involving the gun attack against People's Alliance for Democracy founder Sondhi Limthongkul.

Worapong said investigators believe the pickup truck carrying the gunmen did not tail Sondhi's car but waited at the Thewet Intersection to ambush the target.

The truck actually was in front of Sondhi's car and opened fire soon after leaving the intersection where the two vehicles had stopped for a red light, he said.

The current scenario has two vehicles involved in shooting Sondhi but investigators have not drawn any conclusion, he said.

Thani would take over the case from Jongrak, who was reassigned, he said.

PAD co-leader Pipop Thongchai told a PAD concert in Phuket that Sondhi was one of two targets for elimination. PAD spokesman Suriyasai Katasila was the other one, he said.

The murder plot was aimed by the masterminds to incite yellow shirts into rioting, which would prompt the government to crack down on them and destroy the movement, he said.

PAD co-leader Chamlong Srimuang said he had two hypotheses to explain the gun attack on Sondhi. The first was to create a state of anarchy by killing Sondhi, which would drive red and yellow shirts to fighting. That would set the stage for a seizure of power.

The second theory is to obstruct the growth of public participation in the political process, because the yellow-shirt movement is being perceived as a threat to mainstream politics.

PAD co-leader Pipop Thongchai said Sondhi was recuperating nicely, following surgery to remove metal fragments from his head.

Pipop called for the police and Army chiefs to intervene in order to unmask the plotters behind the hit attempt and bring them to justice.

Bhum Jai Thai Party spokesman Supachai Jaisamut dismissed as groundless Sondhi's son Jittanart's allegation that faction leader Newin Chidchob might have something to do with the strike on his father.

"I think Jittanart has too wild an imagination," he said. Neither Newin nor the blue shirts were involved in the assault on Sondhi's life, he added.