Former immigration chief Pol Lt-Gen Surachet “Big Joke” Hakparn hit out at the national police chief, Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, for allegedly instructing the deputy national police chief, Pol Gen Wirachai Songmetta, to stay away from the investigation into the attack on his car.

Appearing on Channel 3’s “Hone Krasae” talk program today, Surachet, currently an advisor at the PM’s Office, talked about a leaked audio recording, purportedly of a conversation between Chakthip and Wirachai, during which the police chief is heard telling Wirachai to wait until the Metropolitan Police Bureau issue their report on the shooting before getting involved.

Deputy police spokesman Pol Col Krisana Patanacharoen has confirmed that the recording is authentic, but said it might have been recorded by an ill-intentioned police officer.

While not mentioning Chakthip by name, Surachet said he felt very disappointed, after having heard the recording, adding that only Wirachai and a police commander were at the scene when the 8 shots were fired at the car, by a motorbike pillion passenger, on Monday night in Bang Rak district, adding that he has not seen the metropolitan police commissioner since the shooting.

“If I were the head of the city’s law enforcement organization, I would have ordered the arrest of the perpetrators of the shooting to happen within two days,” said the former immigration chief, apparently, referring to a male voice in the clip, believed to be Chakthip.

Surachet complained to the TV programme’s host that he had been subjected to a lot of persecution and he will not stand for it any more.

Apparently defying Chakthip’s instruction, Pol Gen Wirachai today met the media at the Royal Police Office to take questions about the shooting case.