Police Officers and Government Officials Busted in Gambling Raid

Two police officers and two municipal officials have been arrested for alleged gambling during a raid on a house belonging to an assistant village headman in Phichit province on Wednesday. The police officers claimed they were only playing checkers.

A combined team of soldiers, police and local officials raided the house in Phichit province on Wednesday.

The raid, led by Col Saksit Ninchan, deputy chief of the Phichit internal security command. The raid followed a complaint lodged with provincial authorities that gambling was often held at the house in violation of Covid-19 restrictions.

Upon seeing officers, police said, people gambling inside the house fled in panic. Nine gamblers were subsequently caught: two of them were police officers themselves, two were officials working at a municipality in Muang district and the five others were local residents. The names of the gamblers were not disclosed.

Police officers denied gambling

The arresting team seized 27 decks of cards, 3 sets of dice, 2,645 baht in cash, a motorcycle with a police emblem, 7 other motorcycles belonging to local residents, one car and other gambling equipment, said police.

All nine suspects were handed over to the police station for interrogation.

The two police officers among those detained denied gambling. They claimed they were just playing checkers in the house at the time.

The house owner, an assistant village head, was not present during the raid, but showed up later at the police station and admitted to being the owner, police said. Officers were investigating the house owner to find out whether he had been involved in running the gambling operation.