Kuwaiti Bank Robber Faces Deportation From Thailand

Kuwaiti bank robber faces deportation

BANGKOK: -- A Kuwaiti bank robber who attempted suicide after being arrested by police in Thailand will be deported as soon as he recovers from his self-inflicted wounds, police said on Thursday.

Mohammad Asil M J Almudolly, 29, was arrested on Tuesday in a hotel room in Nakorn Ratchasima, 210 kilometres north-east of Bangkok, after Kuwaiti Interpol authorities sought his arrest for participating in robbing a Kuwait bank on December 20.

Police found dollars and euros worth approximately 3 million baht (83,000 dollars) in the refrigerator in Almudolly’s hotel room. On the way to the police station in Nakorn Ratchasima, Almudolly gave his captors the slip and ran into a Thai food stall where he slashed his throat with a kitchen knife.

“I guess he was trying to flee his own mistakes,” said Police Major Thanomsak Inthawawudh, of the Tourist Police force in Nakorn Ratchasima. ”This man stands accused of robbery, possession of a fire arm and of shooting a person, all of which are very serious crimes in a Muslim country so when we send him back to Kuwait I’m pretty sure he will be executed,” said Thanomsak in a telephone interview with Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

Doctors at Maharath Hospital in Nakorn Ratchasima have recommended that Almudolly needs three to four days to recuperate from this throat wound, after which he will be charged for travelling on a cancelled visa and deported to Kuwait, Thanomsak said.

Almudolly, who arrived in Thailand on December 21, one day after his heist, has been a frequent visitor to Thailand over the last three years.

Upon his arrival he immediately travelled to Pattaya, a Thai beach resort notorious for its wild nightlife, where he hooked up with his Thai girlfriend. He fled to Nakorn Ratchasima, apparently with the assistance of his girlfriend, when he became suspicious that the police were looking for him, said Thanomsak.

--DPA, Agencies 2006-12-29