A THAI POLICE team chased a suspect wanted in the murder of former Cambodian MP Lim Kimya in Banglamphu area of Bangkok to Cambodia’s Battambang province and joined forces with their Khmer counterparts in capturing him at 4.30 p.m. today (Jan. 8), Naewna newspaper and Amarin TV said late this evening.
National Police Chief Pol. Gen. Kitrat Phanphet and Metropolitan Police Bureau Chief Pol. Lt. Gen. Sayam Boonsom sent a team headed by Pol. Sgt. Jae to chase and arrest the suspected hitman, Mr. Ekkalak Panoi, a former navy marine whose nickname is “Sergeant Em Kongruea”, soon after Lim Kimya was fatally shot in front of Wat Bowonniwet Vihara at 5.45 p.m. yesterday,
The team narrowly missed catching the suspect at Ban Khao Din permanent border checkpoint at Sa Kaeo province around midnight last night as he managed to slip into Cambodia via natural channels.
The team then contacted Battambang’s Sampov Lun district police station chief to coordinate in chasing the suspect with the Metropolitan Police investigation team then going across to pursue him.
It was discovered that the suspect had exchanged 4,000 baht for Cambodian currency at a shop near the border before taking a bus further inland.
The police team continued chasing him and finally caught him after he stopped for a meal at Prey Svay in Moung Ruessei district, Battambang province.
He was then taken to Battambang provincial police headquarters before being sent to the Internal Security Command in Phnom Penh for further questioning.
It was reported that the two neighbouring countries are now negotiating whether to extradite the suspect to Thailand or prosecute him in Phnom Penh.
CAPTION:
Suspected hitman “Sergeant Em Kongruea” after being arrested in Cambodia late afternoon today, Jan. 8, 2025. Photos: Amarin TV
Also read: Ex-Khmer MP killed in Bangkok allegedly at order of powers-that-be in Phnom Penh
Big hunt for hitman in murder of former Cambodian MP, target pointer likely involved
Arrest warrant out for hired gun who shot dead former Cambodian MP in Bangkok
