THE Criminal Court this morning (Jan. 8) approved a warrant for the arrest of a hired gun who goes by the name “Sergeant Em Kongruea” on the charges of killing former Cambodian opposition MP Lim Kimya, 74, in the heart of Bangkok last evening, Amarin TV and TV Channel 7 said.
Chana Songkhram police said the suspect’s real name is Mr. Ekkalak Panoi, a former navy marine.
He has been charged with premeditated murder and carrying a weapon in public without permission with the statute of limitations being 20 years.
Earlier the Metropolitan Police commander held a meeting with the investigation team to immediately hunt down the gunman.
The latest information shows that “Sergeant Em”, who works as a hired gun, doesn’t socialise with anyone and gets contracts to kill his victims from his senior benefactor.
Lim Kimya, who held both French and Cambodian nationalities, was shot at point-blank range three times by the assassin in front of Wat Bowonniwet Vihara at 5.45 p.m. yesterday, being hit at his ribs and right shoulder. Pol. Col. Sanong Saengmani, superintendent of Chana Songkhram police station, assisted rescue workers in giving him cardiopulmonary resuscitation(CPR), but the injured man was in critical condition and died at the scene.
The deceased is a member of the Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), which is known for its commitment to check the government despite political pressure.
The CNRP was dissolved by the court on Nov. 16, 2017, leading to Lim Kimya, along with over a hundred other CNRP members and party officials, being banned from holding political positions for five years. As one of only twenty MPs still based at the CNRP headquarters in Phnom Penh, he continued to be politically active, even as other members had withdrawn from public life to avoid arrest.
Police investigators questioned his French wife who said the three of them had travelled to Bangkok by bus which stopped at Wat Bovorn at 5 p.m. as per the schedule. After finishing their tour they came out to wait for the bus where he was fatally shot.
TV channel 7’s news team obtained a surveillance camera clip which showed that at 5.26 p.m. the gunman very calmly rode up on a motorcycle and parked in front of a noodle shop on the Thai Post Office side of the road like any other person.
He then sat there using his mobile phone to kill time for over 10 minutes till 5.39 p.m. when he crossed the road and sat at the traffic island and continued using his mobile phone for another six minutes.
At 5.45 p.m. he saw the opportunity to commit the crime and crossed the road to pump three bullets at the former Cambodian MP after which he crossed back and rode off on his motorcycle towards Wan Chat Intersection.
Eyewitnesses described him as being a tall, thin man with cropped hair but could not remember his face. He was wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt and jeans and was riding a red Honda Wave 125 motorcycle with the licence plate number 845.
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Above, below and Front Page: Images of the hired gun at the scene of murder. Credit: Amarin TV
Frist below: Former Cambodian opposition MP Lim Kimya, left, and the hired gun riding away on his motorcycle. Photo: Amarin TV
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