Bootleg Oil Seller Busted By Cops After Big Fire

March 14, 2013

The 49-year-old millionaire owner of an oil and transportation business surrendered to police after an accidental oil fire torched three Plutaluang homes. Illegal benzyl oil was being stored in a home, which caught fire when a careless worker ignited spilled oil with his burning cigarette.

SATTAHIP – March 13, 2013 [PDN]; at 4 p.m., a follow-up investigation of a suspicious house fire in Plutaluang that spread to two other homes was conducted by Pol. Col. Chaosiri Boonsiriyothin, Superintendent, Phlutaluang police station; together with Mr. Suphan Saengthong, the inspector general of Ministry of Energy; Chief Petty Officer First Class Vitsanu Tosombat, the chairman of Phlutaluang Subdistrict Administrative Organization; and the officers from Scientific Crime Detection Division, section 2.

They went to inspect at the incident and collect the evidence to inspect to find the cause of the fire. Initially, the officers investigated two suspected causes of the blaze: from sparks from the electric transformer in front of the house that short-circuited, and from a man who was smoking a cigarette.

Pol. Col. Chaosiri Boonsiriyothin, Superintendent, Phlutaluang police station, revealed that in this case he had coordinated to follow up to arrest a Mr. Adul Kamapanai, age 35, from Mahasarakham province.

Mr. Adul had been hired by the homeowner to take care of the house and control the delivery of oil, which is now under investigation to follow up to arrest the rest of people involved in the illegal selling of oil. The police tracked down the name of the owner of the burned house and a black Mitsubishi pickup truck modified to hold a 2,000 liter oil container on its pickup bed.

The owner was identified as Mr. Jatuphong Songsarn, age 49, a millionaire who is the owner of an oil business and transportation on Baan Thoong road, Tambon Thapma, Amphur Meuang Rayong, Rayong province. Mr. Jatuphong had already arranged to surrender himself to police, and asked not to reveal any information to the press.

However, with the evidence that police have, who are ready to prosecute the two suspects according to the 1999 act of controlling oil fuel, the police believe they can follow up to arrest the head of the gang and the origin of the illegal oil, which surely will be revealed to the mass media later.

Mr. Adul confessed that he was hired by Mr. Jatuphong for 12,000 THB per month to take care of the oil and control of the oil delivery for almost 1 year. Mr. Adul’s job included overseeing the storage of the 200-liter oil tanks in the house.

When the fire occurred, Mr. Adul was lying down inside the house, while two other underlings of Mr. Jatuphong were unloading the oil tanks from the 6-wheeler truck outside.

When he discovered the fire burning, Mr. Adul ran away to escape from the house, but was later arrested. The two other underlings who reportedly started the fire still have not been caught.

Startled Smoker Ignites Plutaluang Village Oil Blaze

A Sattahip house used for storing illegal benzyl oil caught fire, which spread to two other homes. The fire began when two workers dropped an oil tank being unloading from a truck. A lit cigarette fell from the mouth of the surprised worker, which ignited the spilled oil on the ground.