BANGKOK — In a strategic operation reminiscent of tactical combat games, an Metropolitan Police officer donned military-style camouflage uniform to successfully apprehend a sexual assault suspect in a rural area. The specialized approach came after previous attempts at capture had failed.
The case began when Police Major General Theeradej Thammasutee received a report of a 12-year-old girl being sexually assaulted. The suspect, identified as Noppadol “Bang Din,” age 20, had allegedly abandoned the victim on a roadside after the assault.
According to the police report, the victim had befriended someone known as “Ree” on Facebook. On September 1, 2024, Ree invited her to hang out near her home in the Nong Chok area. Upon arrival, she met Ree and another man, Sharif, age 26.
The three traveled by motorcycle to a resort in Nakhon Nayok province. While there, the two men briefly left, returning with Bang Din. After Ree and Sharif stepped out again, Bang Din allegedly sexually assaulted the girl before abandoning her in the Nong Chok area.
The Min Buri Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Bang Din on December 11 on multiple charges, including human trafficking of a minor, deception, kidnapping, and sexual assault of a person under 15 years of age.
After several failed attempts to capture the suspect, including a motorcycle pursuit where he evaded police, investigators tracked him to Don Chimphli Sub-district, Bang Nam Priao District, Chachoengsao Province. The area’s rural terrain posed a significant challenge for conventional pursuit tactics.
In a final decisive operation, an officer employed military-style tactics, crawling through rice fields for over 300 meters in full camouflage gear. Using long-range optics, he located the suspect hiding beneath a house and successfully made the arrest. Bang Din has since confessed to all charges.
This isn’t the first time the Metropolitan Police have employed creative tactics for undercover operations. In a previous case, an officer successfully dressed as Japanese wrestler to infiltrate a swinging party, leading to the arrest of a Chinese national who had sexually assaulted and blackmailed a Thai female university student.
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