A brazen daylight abduction took a wild turn yesterday when swift police action led to the arrest of four men in Chanthaburi. A 50-year-old construction worker named Nakarin was assaulted and forcibly taken in a hired taxi by the attackers. According to authorities, the incident unfolded outside a convenience store and was reported to the police at exactly 3:41 pm on November 13 by an alert bystander.

 

Led by Police Colonel Traisit Pokkathammachai, the police acted with commendable alacrity by setting up checkpoints and intercepting the vehicle at 4:05 pm. The suspects were apprehended barely 10 kilometres away from the crime scene, near a police station in Ban Trok Nong, Khluang.

 

Upon investigation, it was revealed that Nakarin and his attackers were former colleagues. The crux of their conflict lay in a failed vehicle loan transaction. Nakarin, who had a previous drug arrest record, had borrowed a white Isuzu vehicle from one of the attackers named Khemthat for a day trip to Sa Kaeo on October 27. The bone of contention was that Nakarin failed to return the vehicle after two days and went off the grid, prompting Khemthat to lodge a police complaint.

 

 

In their quest to retrieve the vehicle, the ex-colleagues hired a taxi from Nonthaburi to Chanthaburi, where Nakarin lived. Locating him outside a convenience store, they launched their attack, proceeded to tie him up, and force him into the taxi to track down the car. “It’s my fault,” Nakarin reportedly admitted during the ordeal.

 

The taxi driver, Somkid TaenThaisong, hired by the suspects for 2,500 baht to drive them from Nonthaburi to Chanthaburi, shared his version of the events. He unsuspectingly drove his passengers to Ban Khluang. The assailants disembarked at an intersection, attacked Nakarin, and brought him back to the vehicle, tied up and visibly beaten up. Somkid revealed a last-minute change of plans by the attackers from heading back to Bangkok to Sa Kaeo instead, just before the police intercepted them.

 

The arrested men, including Nakarin, are being subjected to further questioning and drug testing before proceeding to legal actions.

 

File photo for reference only

 

-- 2024-11-14

 

 

Rather a half-arsed plan to get the car back... now in more trouble.