As many as 12 police officers, instead of eight as originally reported, and three civilians are believed to be involved in extorting about 140 million baht from alleged members of an illegal online gambling gang, Pol Gen Surachate Hakparn, the deputy national police chief, told the media today (Sunday).

He said the Criminal Court issued arrest warrants today for the three civilians, two of whom have fled to a neighbouring country, leaving behind a woman, the wife of one of the two men.

He said that some officers had alerted the two civilian suspects about their impending arrests, adding that police will seek help from their counterparts in the neighbouring country by asking them to hand the two fugitives over to Thai police.

Pol Gen Surachate was appointed by the national police chief, Pol Gen Damrongsak Kittipraphat, to head the investigation into this extortion case.

Among the officers implicated in the alleged extortion is Pol Maj-Gen Kampol Leelaprapaporn, the commander of Chon Buri provincial police. He and seven of his subordinates have already been transferred to the operations centre of the Royal Thai Police, pending the outcome of a fact-finding investigation.

Two technology crime suppression officers, Pol Col Damrongsak and Pol Lt-Col Pathompong, reported to investigators today to acknowledge charges against them.

The two officers were accompanied by Atchariya Ruangrattanapong, chairman of Crime Victims Assistance Club, and a lawyer. They claimed that they simply performed their duties as ordered by their immediate superior.

The two were charged with illegal detention, malfeasance in office and extortion.

Surachate told the media that he met with Kampol yesterday, as they are well acquainted because they used to work together, and advised him to tell the truth to the investigators, adding that he has no personal grudge against Kampol.

The deputy police chief said that this will be the first case in which the Prevention and Suppression of Torture Act will be applied by the police in their investigation.