Well-known serial petitioner Srisuwan Janya has been taken into police custody on an extortion charge, after he and two associates allegedly demanded 1.5 million baht from the director-general of the Rice Department in exchange for dropping his plan to lodge a complaint of alleged corruption against the official.
The police action followed the filing of a complaint by Natthakit Khongthip, director-general of the Rice Department, claiming that Srisuwan, Yotwarit Chuklom and a former United Thai Nation party candidate called “Pimnattha” had tried to extort three million baht from him.
The trio threatened to expose alleged corruption in the Rice Department’s project to cut rice production costs unless Natthakit paid them three million baht. The amount was, however, negotiated down to 1.5 million baht.
Police then set up a sting operation, by letting a courier take the first 500,000 baht payment to Srisuwan’s house, a process which was kept under close surveillance.
Officials from the National Anti-Corruption Commission and anti-corruption police raided Srisuwan’s house, in the Prueksa 17 housing estate in Lam Luk Ka district of Pathum Thani, at about 3pm today, after the director-general sent the courier to deliver the 500,000 baht in cash to Srisuwan’s wife.
Police said that Srisuwan noticed the police arriving, grabbed the parcel containing the cash and threw it out of the compound of his house. Police managed to recover the cash and took Srisuwan into custody before searching his house for more evidence.
Srisuwan and his wife were whisked away from their house in a passenger van, reportedly for questioning.
Shortly afterward, another police team at Government House took Yotwarit Chuklom into custody. He is an aide to Deputy Prime Minister Pirapan Salirathavibhaga.
Yotwarit told the media, however, that he had nothing to do with the alleged extortion.
Earlier, Pirapan reportedly called Pol Maj-Gen Jaroonkiat Pankeaw, deputy commissioner of the Central Investigation Bureau, offering to hand Yoswarit and Pimnattha over to the police.
