BANGKOK, Jan 30 (TNA) – The Director-General of the Rice Department has asserted that no one is behind the decision to come forward to file a complaint against high-profile petitioner Srisuwan Janya for attempted extortion and an advisor to the Agriculture Minister did not involve in the allegation.
The Director-General of the Rice Department Natthakit Khongthip on Tuesday afternoon held a news conference for the first time on the attempted extortion case, saying he and his wife gathered evidence on alleged extortion on their own and filed the complaint to the police, leading to the arrests of Srisuwan and other two accused accomplices.
Srisuwan, Yoswaris “Jeng Dokchik” and former MP candidate of the United Thai Nation party Phimnattha Chiraphutthiphak were arrested on Friday on suspicion of extorting 1.5 million baht of money from the director-general Natthakit to spare him from corruption complaints.
The director-general focused on clarifying that Thanadol Suwannarit, an advisor to the Minister of Agriculture and Cooperatives was not involved in the alleged extortion after Thanadol was reportedly mentioned to bring his wife to pay the money to serial petitioner Srisuwan on Nov 28 to stop Srisuwan from lodging complaints, which could tarnish the image of the state agency.
He further said on November 28, 2023, he decided to visit Srisuwan’s house along with his wife and asked Thanadol to accompany as a witness. However, they did not go to pay the money but to inquire Srisuwan about the reason behind the baseless corruption complaint as the investigation earlier revealed that the director-general was not at fault in any of the four to five government projects for farmers.
Regarding the negotiated payment later, he did it to gather evidence to support his claims on attempted extortion. He affirmed his innocence, saying it is necessary to step forward to defend himself and his pride. -819 (TNA)
