PHUKET: The Kazakhstani national, arrested in connection with last week’s shooting at Boat Avenue, has been charged with attemted murder Phuket Police Chief Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikong confirmed to The Phuket News today (June 13). The Russian businessman who was the target of the attack, keeps recovering from gunshot wounds though his condition is not lifethreatening.
A Russian businessman was rushed to hospital after being shot several times through the windshield of his car on June 7. Photo: Supplied
The sole and prime suspect in the June 7 shooting is a Kazakhstani national of Korean ethnicity born in 1974. The man was arrested on June 8 after police discovered that he had rented the Yamaha N-Max scooter used in the shooting.
Initially the man was apprehended for visa overstay without any formal murder-related charge and denied any connection to the murder attempt, Phuket Police Chief Maj Gen Sermphan Sirikong explained to The Phuket News at that time.
On Tuesday (June 13) Gen Sermphan confirmed that murder-related charges had been formally added, making the Kazakhstani man a prime suspect in what appears to be an assassination attempt.
“The charges against him include attempted murder, posessing a firearm without a permit, and carrying a gun in public without reasonable cause,” Gen Sermpan confirmed.
“We are now gathering evidence to hand the case over to the prosecutor,” Phuket Police Chief added.
Several key pieces of evidence are now in police custody, including the aforementioned Yamaha N-Max scooter, the clothes worn by the shooter and dropped near the scene, and a .38 caliber revolver with two unused rounds of ammunition found in a nearby lake.
Gen Sermpan has not confirmed if forensic specialist have been able to conduct DNA tests and prove the connection between the arrested man and the key pieces of evidence such as the gun and the cloths.
Boat Avenue shooting
An attack on a Phuket-based businessman from Russia, whose name the police have not officially disclosed, occurred at the Boat Avenue complex near Laguna Phuket at around 11.30am on June 7.
According to eyewitness accounts, the attacker had been waiting at the complex on a grey Yamaha N-Max motorbike, with his face concealed at all times by a crash helmet. Shortly after the Russian businessman parked his car, the man fired four shots from a firearm into the windshield of the vehicle.
The man inside the car, identified as a 43-year-old Russian national, was hospitalised with gunshot wounds. In the most recent conversation with The Phuket News Gen Sermphan confirmed that there was no threat to the man’s life as of June 13.
Investigators believe that the most probable motive behind an assassination attempt on a Russian man at Boat Avenue on June 7 could be his business in Phuket rather than a personal confict with the shooter or someone else.
The Russian businessman, who turned 44 years old on June 9, is allegedly involved in the restaurant business in Phuket, including the Boat Avenue area. Gen Sermphan has not revealed any details about his business.
