Crime Suppression Division police arrested a known gunman in Bangkok on Thursday morning for the murder of two debt collectors four years ago, one in Roi Et and the other in Yasothon province.
Atthaphon Lumpila, 33, of Phetchaburi province, wanted on arrest warrants issued by the Roi Et and Yasothon provincial courts, was apprehended on Soi Somdej Phrachao Taksin 5 in Bukkhalo area of Thon Buri district.
The suspect was No.24 on the Royal Thai Police calendar for 2016 featuring suspected hitmen, according to Pol Col Charoonkiat Pankaew, deputy CSD commander.
Mr Atthaphon allegedly colluded with Sathaporn Chansa-ard, who was caught earlier, in shooting dead Punnaphop Prapassorn, 33, a debt collector, on Pattamanon Road in Suwannaphum district, Roi Et, on July 7, 2014.
He also allegedly colluded with Mr Sathaporn in the murder of Paiwan Boonkerd, a debt collector, in Yasothon province in the same month.
Pol Col Charoonkiat said the suspect had previously worked as a debt collector for a major loan shark in the Northeast, but quit.
He allegedly plotted to kill and rob the two debt collectors, making use of his knowledge of the routes they frequently used and the amounts they collected each day, the CSD deputy chief said.
Mr Aattaphon denied killing the man in Yasothon, but confessed to the Roi Et murder, and was held in police custody for legal action, he said.
