BY THE WAY: Voter held for murder

Published on February 7, 2005

Police yesterday arrested a murder suspect who had been on the run for 15 years when he returned to his home town in Khao Saming district in Prachuap Khiri Khan to vote in yesterday’s national election.

Pravit Bunya, 34, who was wanted in connection with a 1989 murder, was arrested as he was about to leave his house for a polling station in the district.

Pravit claimed that he stabbed Thanomsak Salachua in self-defence on December 31, 1989, after Thanomsak and some of his friends attacked him.

Pravit said he had stayed with relatives in Bangkok for about seven years before spending eight years working on a shrimp farm in Trat. – The Nation.

Ballots taken

The provincial election panel filed a complaint yesterday in regard to 100 ballots missing from a polling station inside a military camp.

Authorities discovered two booklets of ballots were unaccounted for before dawn and immediately cancelled them.

They had been kept at Thanarat Infantry Camp’s officers’ club, which was used as a polling station in yesterday.

After consulting the Election Commission, the provincial panel decided to replace the ballots with back-up copies, in order to proceed with the balloting as scheduled. – The Nation.

Crash kills 5

Five people were killed and another five injured when the pickup truck they were riding in flipped over on its way to the polls yesterday in Buri Ram province, police said. – The Nation.

Grenade left

A hand grenade was found outside the offices of the Democrat Party in Chiang Mai’s Fang district yesterday morning, police said.

Police Major Sanit Mala said officers retrieved the grenade at around 10am with the pin still intact.

It was left outside the office of Democrat MP candidate Prasit Wutthinanchai in Tambon Wiang, constituency 10, he said.

Prasit said he was sure the incident was politically motivated because many of his supporters had previously received threats to stop helping him.

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