CityNews – On 29th November police arrested 30 year old Khanawut Nithichompon with 2000 yaba pills. After the arrest the police organised a sting operation, using Khanawut as bait to catch his dealer, whom he was meeting with that evening. Police positioned themselves around the meet site near Mae Malai Market, Mae Taeng District and soon a man and a woman turned up for the trade. Somehow the couple were alerted to the presence of the police and a gun battle ensued resulting in the shooting of a police officer. Police Lance Corporal Siriyut Noiarun was later declared dead at the hospital from infections to his wound. The woman escaped in the car and the shooter, believed to be a Lisu man, Prasert Laolee, fled into the forests where a manhunt ensured.
Over 100 officers entered the forests in the area and found traces of blood, believing it to have belonged to the shooter, though have yet to catch him.
