BANGKOK, Oct 11 (TNA) – A man from an ethnic group in Myanmar, allegedly killing a bearcat confessed to the police, saying he was lent the gun and was ordered to shoot the animal by two persons in the off-road caravan.
The man identified as Tata, a caretaker of the Muang Tao Dam monastery and Anusorn Ruen-ngam, a defence volunteer of the Dan Makham Tia district office will be brought to the Royal Thai Police headquarters for interrogation in the poaching case.
According to the initial investigation, three persons are involved in the shooting of the bearcat, the protected species when a group of 12 people, including a deputy district chief travelled in an off-road caravan to camp overnight in the Saiyok national park in Kanchanaburi.
Tata implicated Anusorn and another man Sakarn Kaengluang, saying that the two men claimed to be police officers and told him to shoot the bearcat, living near the monastery.
He used the firearm of Mr. Anusorn to kill the bearcat and the duo also witnessed the shooting. It was shot in the head and fell from a tree to the ground. The carcass was brought to Jenra to cut it off into pieces. Jenra, a tribal person from Myanmar is the only person still at large. The bearcat’s head was discarded in a creek, he said.
Deputy National Police commissioner Pol Gen Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said the arrest warrants were issued for 14 persons.
Tata and Anusorn have been charged with hunting a protected wildlife, having protected wildlife carcass and weapons in their possession. He ordered the investigating team to wrap up the case within 48 days. (TNA)
