Weapons haul found outside shopping mall

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Weapons haul found outside shopping mall
By The Nation
2011-05-10

An automatic weapon and some ammunition were discovered in a bag left in a drain in front of Siam Paragon shopping mall yesterday morning.

City workers cleaning the drain at the mall's third en-|trance found two bags around 10am.

The 25-centimetre-long gun, about 50 rounds of ammunition, and a magazine with 31 bullets for a .45 pistol - all in rusty |condition - were found in the large garbage bag, while another white plastic bag carried a giant firecracker, a silencer, about 10 glass balls and seven spent cartridges.

Police along with the bomb squad rushed to inspect the scene, which was then sealed for public safety, and took the evidence to the Pathumwan Police Station.

Worker foreman Sunant Wuttisak, 50, said his team was cleaning the drain starting from Pathumwan Intersection to Ratchaprasong Intersection when they discovered the bags |in a drain in front of Siam Paragon.

He said he had cleaned the drains in the area after the red-shirt protest ended and had found guns and ammunition frequently, each time alerting the police.

Pathumwan Police Station superintendent Colonel Kittipan Junthakan said the weapons seemed to have been in the drain for a long time. He believed it was unlikely they were linked to the current political situation and so far had no idea to whom they belonged.