Police deputy spokesman Maj-General Songpol Wattanachai urged lawyer Songkran Atchariyasap to show evidence about the Bangkok’s Prachacheun Police Station officers’ alleged forging of signature of another former maid of Monta, Sukanya Sirimoung, who Monta also accused of stealing in a separate matter.

Monta is currently in detention after being charged with perjury, attempted human trafficking and lese majeste.

Songkran brought Sombat Khanhin, whose younger brother Sunthorn, a chauffeur, has been missing since 2012, to speak to CSD investigators. He said his brother had driven a van and a taxi before starting work with Monta in 2008. He said his brother resigned from work with her, but he did not know why and he had not seen his brother since then.

In regard to a report that Sunthorn was arrested by plainclothes police over a drug charge before his disappearance, Sombat admitted Sunthorn was once arrested for drug abuse before working with Monta. He said he still hoped his brother was alive.

Call for DNA check

Songkran called for police to conduct DNA tests to determine if the bodies of Sunthorn and a wealthy Udon Thani woman were among human remains found in a forest in Udon Thani’s Ban Phue district. The woman went missing in 2003 after transferring an eight-rai (1.3 hectare) plot to Monta, he said.

Songkran also brought former maid Janthana “Noona” Khotkhongthai, who served 18 months in prison over a theft charge that resulted from a separate claim by Monta, to testify to investigators. She claimed to know Sunthorn as a close aide of Monta in 2008, saying Monta owed him wages and often scolded him. Noona said she last saw Sunthorn in November 2010 before she went to jail.

Songkran said he would soon bring former maid Sukanya Sirimuang to testify. He claimed the case report had fake signatures for Sukanya. So, she would submit her signature for forensic testing, with the result to be known in a week.

Tourist Police Division chief Maj-General Surachet Hakphan urged Songkran to back up his claim that a car with a Tourist Police logo was used in Monta’s convoy to pick up the wealthy Udon Thani woman prior to her disappearance in December 2003. He said his agency was ready to probe the matter.

Police spokesman Songpol urged Songkran to show evidence of an allegation that police at Prachacheun station were involved in a signature forgery. Songpol said that a fact-finding panel was given 30 days, 45 days if needed, to determine if Prachacheun police had erred on the handling of nine complaints filed by Monta.

Acting city police chief Sanit Mahathaworn vowed to have Monta’s cases sorted out with transparency.

Meanwhile, Sukanya’s relatives thanked Deputy Permanent Secretary for Justice Thawatchai Thaikhiew for using Justice Fund money to secure the release of Sukanya on bail, as well as Prapawan and her parents.