THREE POLICE officers who had been taken into custody on Thursday night for allegedly helping former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra slip out of the country were granted temporary release yesterday.

The three were interrogated at Royal Thai Police headquarters from Thursday night until early yesterday. They were not charged but could only be interrogated as witnesses since the court has not issued any arrest warrants over Yingluck’s flight from justice.

The three police were identified as Pol Colonel Chairit Anurit of the Metropolitan Police, Pol Lt-Colonel Samit Chaiincom and Pol Senior Sgt-Major Pornpipat Makboonngam of Nakhon Pathom provincial police.

They were transferred to inactive posts pending the investigation.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the three officers helped Yingluck to secretly take a car to the border province of Sa Kaew before sneaking out of the country. It is believed that she avoided an immigration checkpoint and entered Cambodia through a casino.

Yingluck fled a day or two before the Supreme Court Criminal Division for Political Office Holders delivered its verdict on her role in the rice-pledging scheme. In her absence, the court rescheduled revealing its decision until next Wednesday.

“Deputy national police commissioner Pol General Srivara Ransibhramanakul who talked to the three police officers said one of them had confessed that Yingluck fled with a secretary to Sa Kaew’s Aranyaprathet district,” Prawit said.

Phumtham Wechayachai, the caretaker secretary-general of the Pheu Thai Party, urged authorities to show clear evidence that policemen were involved in the former prime minister’s escape.

He asked for evidence, such as pictures showing Yingluck in the car or the detained suspect, a police colonel, actually driving the car.

“I can only hope that those who have been interrogated are not scapegoats,” Phumtham told The Nation.

He also asked Deputy Police Commissioner General Pol General Srivara, who is in charge of investigating Yingluck’s disppearance, for a more prudent approach in handling the investigation as Yingluck is a high-profile figure.

“I do not want to see a senior police officer let his personal feelings interfere in the matter,” he said.

Phumtham said he had not been in contact with Yingluck since she fled but believes she is safe. “We are concerned and are still waiting for her,” he said.

He said he was waiting to see if the Supreme Court would go ahead with reading the verdict next Wednesday, or suspend the reading further.

Yingluck’s current whereabouts are unknown. She has not been seen in public since August 23, but it has been reported that she has joined her elder brother Thaksin Shinawatra in Dubai, where he has lived for years in self-exile.

Deputy Police Commissioner General Pol General Srivara interrogated the three officers from 10.30pm on Thursday to 1am yesterday, sources said.

At 2am, he took them to confirm that a Camry car that had been seized was the vehicle used by Yingluck in her escape to Sa Kaeo, from where she is believed to have entered Cambodia.

One of the three men questioned is a police colonel who is “close” to a former Metropolitan Police Bureau chief.

The seized Camry belongs to a Bangkok woman who had not used it since 2012. It was one of two cars seen on CCTV surveillance recordings, apparently showing Yingluck being driven past a military facility in Sa Kaeo.