Bangkok: Thai immigration authorities on
Friday said they had arrested two fugitive bank robbers who had
been jailed for stealing more than USD4 million from a Czech
security van.
Josef Blazek, 32, and Rudolf Tesarek, 35, were both
sentenced to 12 years in prison for the raid in January 2008
but fled their native country during a temporary release from
prison.
The pair were arrested in Chon Buri in eastern
Thailand on May 13 following a tip off from Czech police,
which led Thai officers to tail Blazek's pregnant girlfriend
when she entered the country.
"We knew that he was in Thailand but didn't know
exactly where. His girlfriend led us to him," said Major
General Manu Mekmok, an investigator with immigration police.
Blazek and Tesarek originally entered Thailand last
August, police said.
Both men were charged with overstaying their visa,
which carries a maximum penalty of two years in prison, and
authorities plan to extradite them to the Czech Republic after
their trail in Thailand.
PTI
First Published: Friday, May 20, 2011, 23:33