One of the 12 suspects in the wildlife poaching saga in Sai Yok National Park in Kanchanaburi told police yesterday that two Mon ethnic caretakers at a Buddhist monastery in the park killed the bearcat.
Defence volunteer Anuson Rueanngan, the suspect, admitted to police that he handed a .22 calibre rifle at Tao Dam monastery to a Mon caretaker known as Tata, and another Mon man known only as Jira. The poaching took place at the famous national park in Kanchanaburi on Sunday, and most of the suspects were arrested the same day.
Mr Anuson said the rifle he gave to the two men to poach the bearcat was equipped with a silencer, deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul told the media.
The two hunted the bearcat in an area about 2km from the monastery, and no one else went with them, said Pol Gen Srivara.
Mr Anuson insisted that Watcharachai Sameerak, the district chief of Dan Makham Tia district in Kanchanaburi and the key suspect in the wildlife poaching case, did not go hunting for the bearcat.
The Asian bearcat is a protected species under the 1992 Wildlife Protection Act.
Mr Anuson has worked as a volunteer attached to Dan Makham Tia district office.
Mr Jira was the one who brought the bearcat's paws to the monastery and placed them in Mr Anuson's car.
Mr Anuson also claimed he didn't know where the rest of the bearcat's remains were.
Mr Anuson told police he had borrowed a gun from his brother and taken it to the monastery to be used in a redeeming rite, but he did not say why he handed the gun to the two Mon men.
His latest statement countered the suspects' previous statements upon their arrest on Sunday, when they claimed they bought the paws from some villagers.
Pol Gen Srivara said he was confident the police would find the two Mon men, who are wanted for questioning.
However, he admitted this investigation is more difficult than the probe into the black leopard poaching case because the bearcat's remains had been dismembered and no gunshot wound was found in the remains.
He was referring to the infamous case in Thungyai Naresuan Wildlife Sanctuary in Kanchanaburi, in which construction tycoon Premchai Karnasuta was named as one of the prime suspects.
The leopard's carcass bore a gunshot wound that made it easier to track the gun used to kill it, he said.
In a related development, Somkiat Phengnaren, 53, a resident of Ban kha district in Ratchaburi, was named as the 12th suspect when he turned himself in to local police in Ban Kha district to face charges yesterday.
He told police he didn't intend to escape arrest on Sunday.
Mr Somkiat said he joined the trip because Mr Watcharachai, who is his nephew, invited him to go on a pilgrimage to the monastery.
