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Thai government fails to capture scandal-hit abbot amid resistance from followers

Xinhua, June 16, 2016 Adjust font size:

he Operation of the department of special investigation (DSI) to arrest the embattled abbot of the largest buddhism temple in Thailand ended amid resistance from his faithful followers Thursday afternoon.

The DSI arrived at the temple in the morning with a search warrant from the court to capture the abbot. Officials said over 600 policemen stood by to support the raid.

A total of 21,200 people, mostly the temple disciples, gathered in the temple, meditating and giving moral supports for the abbot, according to the source from the police.

They said the abbot was too sick to answer the DSI's summons. They sat in heavy rain, forming a human barrier to stop the officials from entering the gate.

The temple, known as the largest buddhism temple in the world with an area of 400,000 square meters, was implicated in embezzlement in the Klongchan Credit Union Cooperative(KCUK) scam since 2015, during which the ex-chairman of the KCUK had fraudulently authorized 878 cheques worth 11.37 billion baht for the temple and related organizations.

Phra Dhammachayo, the 72-year-old abbot of the temple, has landed in trouble now because he was found to have received several cheques from the ex-chairman of the KCUK before the embezzlement scandal was exposed.

The DSI has pursued charges of money laundering and acceptance of ill-gotten gains against the abbot. However, he has declined to answer DSI summons, claiming to be too sick.

The DSI said they believed the abbot was still in the temple though his exact whereabouts were unclear. They left the temple in the afternoon and would leave the failed search to the court, waiting for instructions for further action.

The temple issued a press release, claiming that the abbot will not turn himself in nor enter judicial processes until the nation has returned to normal conditions when full democracy returns.

The abbot has been wanted on an arrest warrant approved by the Criminal Court on charges of laundering money and receiving stolen property worth 1.2 billion baht since May 18. Enditem