On Wednesday morning 21 August 2019 a Norwegian martial arts expert allegedly killed a British tourist at Centara Grand Hotel in Karon, Phuket.
The death of the British national followed a fight at about 3:30am according to Karon Chief Police Col Prawit. The police were notified of the fight about half an hour later at 4am.
Maj Techin Deethongon of the Karon Police wrote the report stating:
“There we found Mr Roger Bullman, 53 years old, with a cut wound from a sharp object on his left shoulder and he had bruises on the left side of his face. British national Amitpal Singh Bajaj, 34, was lying face down in front of his room.”
The 34-year-old was still breathing at the time and he was taken to Patong Hospital, where he died from asphyxiation after being choked.
Amitpal Singh Bajaj was staying at the hotel with his wife and their 20-month old son.
Loud noise
The Norwegian and British man were staying in adjacent rooms, and Amitpal Singh Bajaj and his family had been bothered by loud noise coming from the drunk Roger Bullman’s room.
Hotel staff had already asked Roger Bullman to keep the noise down earlier in the night.
“Mr Bajaj confronted Mr Bullman for making too much noise because his wife and child wanted to sleep. They started arguing, and Mr Bullman broke the door on the balcony joining the two rooms and entered Mr Bajaj’s room. The two started fighting. Both were fighting inside the room, and (at least one) bottle was used in the fight,” Col Prawit told The Phuket News.
The wife of the deceased, 34-year-old Singaporean Bandhna Kaur Bajaj, told The Sun that she fled the hotel with the son Veer after the fight started. She went to notify hotel staff.
“As the man was kicking, punching and just, beating him up, my husband told me to please leave and save our son. He said, ‘Please just go, go, save Veer’,” the wife said.
“The fight continued outside the room. Mr Bullman was bigger and stronger, and had Mr Bajaj in a hold with his arm across his neck. Mr Bullman choked and hit Mr Bajaj until he was unconscious,” Col Prawit said.
A security guard found Roger Bullman choking Amitpal Singh Bajaj with his arm while on top of him. He stopped on request by the security guard, who called the police and rescue workers.
The Norwegian man has admitted to having entered the victim’s room and holding him in a choke hold.
“The suspect did admit he had the victim in a choke hold. The Norwegian man told me that he just wanted to stop the victim, but he used too much strength,” Maj Techin told The Phuket News.
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Allegedly, Amitpal Singh Bajaj had a steak knife with him, when he went to confront the Norwegian neighbour.
The Norwegian was found with a sharp cut on his left shoulder which the police have not revealed the cause of.
Out on bail
Roger Bullman, who was arrested at the scene, is out on bail event though police requested the court to deny the man this option.
“We are holding his passport while the legal process continues. He will come when I need him to appear,” Col Prawit said.
According to Norwegian media, bail was posted at about B200,000.
Roger Bullman has been charged with manslaughter and trespass by an act of violence. If found guilty, the Norwegian faces a sentence of three to 15 years in prison for manslaughter as well as up to five years in jail, a fine of up to B10,000 or both for trespassing.
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