Gang ‘hired’ to gun down man and wife

KILLINGS LINKED TO TEACHER’S MURDER

PHATTHALUNG: Local hitmen are believed to be responsible for the murder of a couple who were shot dead on Wednesday in Phatthalung province.

Suphon Innudam, 57, and his wife Nirat Innudam, 45, were gunned down as they rode their motorcycle to a rubber plantation in Pak Phayun district.

The pair suffered multiple bullet wounds. Bullet casings from an M16 rifle and an 11mm pistol were found at the scene.

Pol Col Anek Srikhamai, deputy chief of Phatthalung Provincial Police, said initial investigations indicate a well-known gang could have been hired to kill the couple.

He said the suspects are likely also connected to the Aug 15 killing of Wiroj Srikhao, a 54-year-old teacher in Ban Khuan Nang Phim, also in Pak Phayun district.

Wiroj and the couple were killed by the same type of weapons. Bullet shells recovered in both cases are being examined to confirm whether there is a link.

Pol Col Anek said the authorities are compiling evidence and interviewing witnesses before seeking arrest warrants for the suspects.

He suggested the motive for the couple’s murder could have been a personal conflict, since the victims had been disputing a plot of land with one of their neighbours for several years.

A prominent former Phatthalung politician was meanwhile killed in a shooting in Songkhla province on Friday night.

The victim was identified as Labai Senyeeheem, 49, also known to locals as Kamnan Bai.

Labai was shot dead on Kanchanawanit Road in Hat Yai district, where he had been on personal business.

His body was found in roadside bushes with 31 gunshot wounds.

Fifteen shells from an AKA rifle and 16 shells from an M16 were collected from the scene.

Police said they believed at least three suspects were responsible for Labai’s death, adding that footage from CCTV cameras in the area will be used in an attempt to track down the culprits.

Officers said there are two possible motives for Labai’s murder — either a personal or a political conflict.

Labai previously served as kamnan and chief executive of the Koh Nang Kham Tambon Administrative Organisation in Pak Phayun district and had been targeted before.

He earlier survived an attempt on his life in 2006, when his house was bombarded by attackers using an M79 grenade launcher, and AKA and M16 rifles.

Labai’s father Yafad Senyeeheem, who was a former chief executive of the Koh Mak TAO, was shot dead in 2006.

Phatthalung is known to be home to several large criminal gangs.

Earlier last week, 300 police and commandos attached to the Crime Suppression Division raided locations in the province as part of an operation to curb rising crime levels there.