A deputy Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB) chief in charge of handling human trafficking has been transferred to an inactive post after he complained about a heavy workload in handling human trafficking cases.
National police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said yesterday he had ordered the transfer of Pol Maj Gen Charuwat Waisaya, MPB's deputy chief, to the Royal Thai Police's operations centre.
The police chief said only that he needed Pol Maj Gen Charuwat's help with work at the police headquarters.
Pol Maj Gen Charuwat was appointed to lead investigations into human trafficking cases, as well as a case involving Pol Maj Gen Paween Ponsirin, who formerly headed investigations into the trafficking of Rohingya migrants.
Pol Maj Gen Paween flew to Melbourne last week where he told the Australian media he is fleeing a death threat allegedly made by influential figures in the military and police, who were involved in the human trade case he was handling.
A police source said Pol Maj Gen Charuwat previously complained to a close aide of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha that he already had his hands full dealing with his other tasks, but he was given responsibility to tackle human trafficking cases on top of that.
Deputy Prime Minster and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwon yesterday urged Pol Maj Gen Paween to return to Thailand to provide information to a panel set by Pol Gen Chakthip to probe his claim. Pol Maj Gen Paween would be given full protection.
However, if he refuses to return, he can still send information through other channels, Gen Prawit said.
Last month, Pol Maj Gen Paween quit as deputy chief of Provincial Police Region 8, which oversees the upper southern provinces. He said the police force's decision to transfer him to the region, where networks of human traffickers were uncovered and arrested in his probe, showed senior figures wanted him dead. He said people involved in trafficking would seek retribution for the progress he made in the probe.