Two Khon Kaen University students were separately arrested on Monday morning by provincial police this morning (Friday) for allegedly torching the portrait of His Majesty the King in front of the Srinagarind Hospital in the early morning of Monday (September 13th). Both were later granted bail by the provincial court.
Armed with search warrants, issued by the Khon Kaen provincial court yesterday, two police teams searched the two houses in Muang district where the students have been staying.
Police declined to identify the two suspects, but said that both are third-year students at the Faculty of Liberal Arts at Khon Kaen University. They have been charged with setting fire to public property, which was damaged beyond repair. Both have denied the charge. However, the lese-majeste charge has not yet been filed.
One white sedan, which police said was used by the duo while committing the offence, was also impounded by the police.
The deputy commissioner of 4th Provincial Bureau, told the media today that the offence allegedly committed by the two students is serious and carries penalties of imprisonment from six months to seven years and/or a fine of 10,000 to 100,000 baht.
The senior police officer, however, said that police wondered why the hospital’s guards did not see the two students at the time and alert the police, as the portrait was located at the front of the hospital next to the Friendship Road.
