Student trio arrested for cutting off rival's fingers

Three technological college students were arrested yesterday for cutting off six of a 16-year-old student's fingers during a brawl on Sukhumvit Road in Samut Prakan's Muang district on the evening of January 10.

Atthapol Chaemcheu, 18, Adisak Timhanwichaikhattha, 18, and their schoolmate aged 17, were presented at a press conference along with two 60-centimetre-long knives and the school uniforms they were wearing during the brawl on January 10 between students of two rival technological colleges. The 16-year-old victim from another vocational school wasn't involved in the brawl but was caught in the middle of fighting.

Responding to reports the victim's mother had complained about a lack of progress in the case, Provincial Police Region 1 chief Nares Nanthachote countered that police had not dragged their feet and had apprehended suspects for interrogation. However, the injured boy had failed to identify his attackers in a line-up, said Nares, so the suspects were released until enough evidence had been gathered to secure arrest warrants for the three in custody. He said police were now gathering evidence to get arrest warrants for nine others allegedly involved in the brawl as well as five more suspected of involvement.

Nares said the suspects in custody had confessed to assaulting the victim with knives because they thought he was from a rival-college group that had just thrown a "ping-pong bomb" at them onboard a No 25 bus. They also offered an apology to the victim for acting mistakenly in the heat of the moment and urged fellow gang-members involved in the brawl to surrender to police. The three were charged with attempted murder, and carrying knives in a public place without sound reason. They were also taken to the scene yesterday for a re-enactment of the crime.

The victim has reportedly accepted his attackers' apology and urged perpetrators still at large to surrender to police. He credited help from several agencies, plus the fact that his attackers had been arrested, for helping him recover from the trauma of the attack and enabling him to return to school.