The acting Highway Police Division commander believed the fatal shooting of the highway police officer at the house of the sub-district chief could be related to the overloaded truck bribe.
Pol.Maj.Gen. Jaroonkiat Pankaew said the sub-district chief or influential Kamnan Nok had run more than 100 overloaded trucks and his previous attempted negotiations with Pol. Maj. Sivakorn Saibua were unsuccessful.
Pol. Maj. Gen. Jaroonkiat, the acting head of the highway police division on Monday attended the cremation ceremony for Pol. Maj. Sivakorn who was shot dead at the dinner party after an argument with Kamnan Nok.
He reiterated that the shooting may be related to disputes over overloaded truck bribe because Pol.Maj. Sivakorn was a straightforward highway police officer, who adhered to the policy to crack down on the truck sticker bribery. When his superior called Pol.Maj. Sivakorn to join the dinner at Kamnan Nok’s house. Kamnan Nok asked for the promotion of his nephew, who is a highway police office but Pol.Maj. Sivakorn refused again. This could be the cause, leading to the killing order by Kamnan.
The head of the highway police division said that the loss of Pol.Maj. Sivakorn was unacceptable. He stressed that any police officers involved must be held accountable and police misconducts must be eliminated.
Meanwhile, the president of the Land Transport Association of Thailand Apichart Phrairungrueng said that the fatal shooting of the highway police officer may not be solely due to the dispute over the transfer of the police officer’s position. There may be other factors such as the overloaded truck bribery that should not be overlooked by the police. He urged the police to learn from this incident, particularly in terms of the sacrifices made by junior-ranking officers.
He also wants to bring up the issue of truck bribery to the prime minister before it will be aggravated again, as this problem has deep roots over the past 20-30 years. Overloaded trucks and the use of bribe stickers for clearance have caused significant damage to Thailand’s highways, necessitating substantial annual repair and maintenance expenditures. (TNA)
