The deputy commander of Chon Buri provincial police has been abruptly transferred to an “inactive post”, at the operations centre of the Second Region Provincial Police Bureau, after he was implicated in a bribery case and in an attempt to swop suspects.

Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the deputy national police chief, said yesterday (Monday) that a police panel has been set up to investigate the allegations against Pol Col Kornwat Hunpradit.

He alleged that Kornwat conspired with four criminal suspects to replace them with other individuals, in exchange for a payment of one million baht.

The four suspects were among 10 who surrendered to Chon Buri police after they allegedly raided a resort, Pool Villa, in Pattaya, seeking to recover a debt incurred in the illicit drug trade. The alleged raiders did not find the debtor, but allegedly assaulted five other people in the resort and shot out the tires of three cars there.