A Sri Lankan living in Thailand is said to be heavily involved in an extortion racket operating within the Bangkok airport premises where foreign travellers are falsely accused of shoplifting and forced to pay thousands of pounds in bribes to secure their release.
Many travellers have fallen victim to this racket and have had to pay large sums of money in way of bribes to the police officers and another unnamed man involved in the racket while many have been held against their will at various locations around the airport until the sum was paid in full, the Sunday Times in Britain reported.
A Sri Lankan, in his fifties, who claimed to be part time interpreter for the Thai tourist police and the Sri Lankan Embassy in Thailand was said to have mediated most of the money transactions between the victims and the police.
Victims claim that this man was also one of the main figures in the racket, meeting the victims face to face and explaining the situation to them in most of the cases.
A British couple is taking action against the racketeers after having paid 8000 pounds sterling in bribes and having been held against their will for five days at a motel in the area. They were accused of stealing a 121 pound wallet from the duty free shop at the Bangkok Airport and were personally met by the Sri Lankan in question who proceeded to facilitate the entire transaction.
The Sunday Times learns that the man in question had visited the Sri Lankan Embassy premises.
However, Minister Counsellor at the Embassy contacted by the Sunday Times said that the man was in no way employed by the Embassy as he had claimed in an interview.
“He has claimed to be an interpreter for the Sri Lanka Embassy in Bangkok. This is false. He said this to cover himself by refusing to speak to the media,” he said.
The Embassy claimed that no new information has surfaced about the culprits and no further action was been taken by the Embassy in regard to these crimes. |
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