POLICE on Phuket are hunting the leader of an alleged gang of Chinese tourists turned thieves after he ran away from arresting officers and escaped.
His three companions also fled on foot when police challenged them yesterday afternoon at their resort in Karon, police in the southern Phuket district of Chalong said today when the trio were presented to Phuket media.
They say Liun Shuiping, 45, Liu Jianhua, 39, and Liu Shuidong, 40, had stolen cameras and an iPhone from the room of a Swedish tourist at a neighboring resort in Karon, a western beach destination, on Wednesday afternoon.
The three men strenuously denied their guilt today. One of them had a blackened right eye.
Police produced the cameras and mobile phone they said had been stolen from a Swedish tourist at the Phuket Orchid Resort, and they say the man had since confirmed the items belonged to him.
A search of the men's room at the Karon Sea Sands Resort produced not only the Swedish man's possessions but also rubber gloves, implements for opening doors, box cutters and a length of rope, police said.
Security camera footage showed the four entering the Swedish man's room, police said, and a security guard had noted that the four men had entered the resort premises although they were not guests.
The fourth man, said to be the gang's leader, escaped with his passport and his identity is not known.
Officials at Phuket International Airport and at Tachatchai Checkpoint, close to the bridge off Phuket, have been alerted to look out for the man.
Phuket Murder: Butti Killers 'May Have Fled by Boat'His three companions also fled on foot when police challenged them yesterday afternoon at their resort in Karon, police in the southern Phuket district of Chalong said today when the trio were presented to Phuket media.
They say Liun Shuiping, 45, Liu Jianhua, 39, and Liu Shuidong, 40, had stolen cameras and an iPhone from the room of a Swedish tourist at a neighboring resort in Karon, a western beach destination, on Wednesday afternoon.
The three men strenuously denied their guilt today. One of them had a blackened right eye.
Police produced the cameras and mobile phone they said had been stolen from a Swedish tourist at the Phuket Orchid Resort, and they say the man had since confirmed the items belonged to him.
A search of the men's room at the Karon Sea Sands Resort produced not only the Swedish man's possessions but also rubber gloves, implements for opening doors, box cutters and a length of rope, police said.
Security camera footage showed the four entering the Swedish man's room, police said, and a security guard had noted that the four men had entered the resort premises although they were not guests.
The fourth man, said to be the gang's leader, escaped with his passport and his identity is not known.
Officials at Phuket International Airport and at Tachatchai Checkpoint, close to the bridge off Phuket, have been alerted to look out for the man.
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So they are looking for an Asian man at the checkpoint? With or without a photo?
Posted by VFaye on March 18, 2011 12:57