Indian tourist held for Gujarat kill plot
Cops arrest suspect at Pratunam hotel
An Indian national has been detained in connection with the attempted murder of a municipal councillor of Borsad town in India’s Gujarat state on Jan 13, the Immigration Bureau (IB) said yesterday.
The suspect was identified as Chadreshkumar Rameshbhai Patel, 40, who holds an Indian passport and is travelling in Thailand on a 15-day tourist visa, said a source.
The man was detained on Friday night by a team of IB officials at a hotel in the Pratunam area of Bangkok, said IB chief Nathathorn Prousoontorn. Mr Chadreshkumar’s visa expires today. The IB investigation team had learned Mr Chadreshkumar was named by suspects arrested in India as the mastermind of a Jan 13 shooting attack on Pragnesh Patel, a Borsad municipal councillor, the source said.
Indian police believe the motive behind the attack concerned political, business and personal conflicts with the victim, said the source, adding Mr Chadreshkumar had fled to Thailand after allegedly hiring the attackers to carry out the shooting.
According to the source, the IB investigation team identified Mr Chadreshkumar as a member of Ravi Pujari, a criminal gang with networks in South East Asia.
“Mr Chadreshkumar, a former telecommunications businessman in India, is the leader of the Ravi Pujari gang which is as influential as the Yakuza in Japan,” Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn said.
An Indian embassy source takes issue with that claim, however, insisting he is just a small-time businessman.
Four suspects had been detained in connection with the Jan 13 attack on Mr Pragnesh, said Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn, adding India and Interpol had asked Thai police to help locate and arrest Mr Chadreshkumar.
Mr Chadreshkumar had previously visited Thailand on three occasions and his latest arrival was recorded on Jan 10. That raised questions as to whether he had ordered the Jan 13 shooting while in Thailand, said Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn.
Meanwhile, the Indian embassy in Bangkok expects the suspect to be deported to India this week.
Deportation is possible only after the Thai side finishes its investigation, which was likely in a few days, he said.
An Indian official maintained Mr Chadreshkumar is not linked to the Indian gangster Ravi Pujari. “He is a local TV satellite operator in a very small town in Gujarat state,” he said.
It was just a personal dispute, he said. Yet one of the shooters whom Mr Chadreshkumar allegedly hired from Mumbai to kill his opponent might have ties to Ravi Pujari, he said.
In a second case also revealed yesterday, another IB investigation on Jan 16 tracked down to Chon Buri a Hungarian husband and wife wanted in an Interpol red notice for fraud, said Pol Lt Gen Natthathon.
Lajos Deaki and Lajosne Deaki fled to Thailand after a Hungarian court sentenced them to eight years imprisonment for multiple fraud cases, said Pol Lt Gen Natthathon, adding the two arrived in Thailand on July 4, 2009 and had made eight requests to stay in Thailand.
Their latest permit allowing them to stay in Thailand expires on July 11, he said.
After being alerted by the Hungarian police, Thai police found they were staying at a house in Chon Buri’s Bang Lamung district, he said.
No word was to hand on whether they will be deported.