Thai police yesterday said that they had “dismantled an anti-monarchy network” that published audio recordings described as defaming the royal family following the arrest of its ringleader.
Hasadin Uraipraiwan, the alleged leader of a group calling itself the Banpodj Network, had been on the run for nearly two weeks, with police offering a widely publicized 200,000 baht (US$6,100) reward for his capture.
He was tracked down to a hotel in Bangkok on Monday night and charged under the nation’s strict and controversial lese majeste legislation, a senior police official said.
Photo: Reuters
“Hasadin is the mastermind of this gang, but we found no link with other groups,” national police spokesman Lieutenant General Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters, adding that the suspect had been handed over to the military for custody.
Local media reports said that Hasadin had been affiliated with the Red Shirt movement loyal to fugitive former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his sister, Yingluck, who was dumped from office as prime minister shortly before the most recent coup, in May last year.
Police officials last week charged a Red Shirt member with lese majeste after the suspect allegedly forwarded a widely circulated forged document on the revered king’s health that went viral.
The movement has also fallen under official suspicion for a small pipe bomb attack outside a Bangkok shopping mall earlier this month.
In response, Red Shirt leader and former member of parliament Jatuporn Prompan accused the junta of trying to provoke the movement into a “fight” by pointing the finger of blame at them.
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