Thai national Ekalak Paenoi (right) confessed to the crime after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorised gun ownership. - Photo: EPA-EFE
BANGKOK: Thai police said Wednesday (Jan 15) they are hunting a Cambodian national believed to be the mastermind behind the killing of a Cambodian opposition politician in downtown Bangkok last week.
Lim Kimya, a former lawmaker for the dissolved Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP), was shot dead last week by a motorcyclist as he arrived in Bangkok by bus from Cambodia with his French wife.
Thai national Ekkalak Paenoi confessed to the crime in a livestream video after being charged with premeditated murder and unauthorised gun ownership.
A Thai court on Tuesday issued an arrest warrant for the Cambodian suspect believed to have orchestrated the crime.
"He is currently on the run," Sanong Sangmanee, police chief of the downtown area of Bangkok where the fatal shooting happened, told AFP on Wednesday.
Public broadcaster ThaiPBS reported that the Cambodian, identified as Somwang Bamrungkit, 43, faces charges of hiring someone to commit murder and unauthorised possession and use of a firearm.
Cambodian opposition figures have accused the country's powerful former leader Hun Sen of ordering the shooting, although a government spokesman has denied official involvement.
Earlier this week, Thai police arrested a driver accused of helping the Thai gunman escape the scene.
However, the driver claimed he was unaware of the crime when he assisted the suspect, local media reported.
Some Thai media reports said Ekkalak was paid 60,000 baht (US$1,700) for the killing, but police say he has claimed he did not receive payment, and took the job "to pay a debt of gratitude". - AFP
