A WARRANT was issued this week for the arrest of a missing activist for allegedly hunting in a national park, but his wife insists that her husband did not engage in such activity.
It is almost one month since Den Kamlae, a land-rights activist who has been fighting for his community to gain the legal right to live in Khok Yao Forest Park, mysteriously disappeared in the forest near his home in Chaiyaphum's Khon San district during a routine expedition to gather bamboo shoots on April 16.
While the search for Den has proved unsuccessful, Chaiyaphum Governor Chusak Trisan said yesterday that Phu Khiao Provincial Court had issued a warrant for his arrest on Tuesday.
He is seen by the authorities as a fugitive criminal suspect.
Chusak said the authorities had discovered that Den and two others, Kraingkrai Bunlork and Praphan Buamuangpia, went hunting in Phu Khiao Wildlife Sanctuary on April 13 and shot a deer to sell the meat at market and share the money between the three of them.
"We captured Kraingkrai and Praphan on April 26 on a charge of violating the Forest Act and the Wildlife Reservation and Protection Act. The case is now being investigated, so the authorities will track down Den and bring him to justice," he said.