#Thailand - Detained TAO chief ‘not involved’ in Pattani bombing, released.

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The chief of a Tambon Organisation Administration (TAO) has been released after investigation showed he had no involvement in the attack at the Big C department store in Pattani province last week, a source said on Sunday.

The identity of the TAO chief in Pattani’s Nong Chik district was never publicly revealed.

He was detained after the attack on May 9, which injured 80 people.

The source said that seven people, including a religious leader – Su-hai-mee Sama-e – and five other local residents had been detained for interrogation for alleged links to the robbery of a pickup and the killing of the vehicle’s owner.

On May 13, five youths were detained in Nong Chik district after they were found near a spot where suspect Su-hai-mee allegedly rigged a stolen pickup with explosives.

Sourse - TheNation

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#Bangkok, Arrest warrant approved for suspicious backpacker

Dusit District Court has approved an arrest warrant for an unidentified foreigner who entered the military court a day before bombing suspects Yusufu Mieraili and Adem Karadag were transferred to the military remand prison.

Images from security cameras at the military court show the man go inside the court on on Sept. 25 and then wander around each floor.

He reportedly took the elevator and went up to the fourth floor, walked to the roof deck and stayed there for awhile. The man later walked down to the third floor, reportedly surveying the area before descending the elevator to the first floor.

He was wearing a black T-shirt, blue jeans, sneakers and was carrying a black backpack.

After authorities saw the CCTV footage, bomb squad officers were deployed to search every floor inside the court.

When no explosive device was found, officials assumed he was a tourist looking for a bathroom.

"We were not sure what the situation was and could not identify if he was a foreigner or not. He could be a tourist because the court is open to the public, and many people stop by to use the bathroom," Deputy Judge Advocate General Krisda Charoenpanich said last Monday.

 However, even though the court is open to the public, the arrest warrant was approved at the request of Chana Songkram Police Station and the man has been charged with trespassing on a property without appropriate reasons. A five-year limitation period applies to his warrant, state media reported.

Source: Coconuts

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Bangkok - Suspect 'confesses' he planted shrine bomb

Click to enlarge.

Police looking for clinching evidence to prove Adem Karadag was the bomber in yellow t-shirt.

 ADEM KARADAG, the foreigner arrested late last month in connection with the Erawan Shrine bombing, has confessed that he was the man who planted the explosive device that killed 20 people and injured 100 others on August 17.

Karadag, or Bilal Muhammed, has confessed that he was the man who planted the bomb at the shrine, according to a source familiar with the ongoing police investigation.

He told police that after placing his backpack containing the explosive device at the shrine, he hired a motorcycle taxi to Lumpini Park. He then removed his wig, glasses and armbands before changing into new clothes, according to the source.

Police investigators have studied security-camera recordings that show a man who looked like the bomber entering a toilet in Lumpini Park, which is just a few minutes' ride from Erawan Shrine.

The video showed the man caught on CCTV in a yellow T-shirt before and after he entered the toilet.

Police took Karadag to different locations associated with the bomb attack to confirm his confession, according to the source.

Investigators found that Karadag looked like the man in the video who went to Lumpini Park to change his clothes, the source said.

The man has become more cooperative with the investigators and has given them more information that was helpful to the probe, the source said.

Meanwhile, Karadag's lawyer, Chuchart Kanpai, yesterday said his client has insisted that he is not the bomber. He challenged the police claim that Karadag has confessed that he had planted the bomb.

National police chief General Somyot Poompanmuang yesterday declined to confirm that Karadag was the bomber. But he said he believed the police had evidence to prove so.

"For me, Thai police are the best in the world. I believe police have evidence, but I can't disclose anything further about this," he said.

The police chief said that judging from the amount of bomb-making materials found in possession of the suspects in this case, it appeared they were making more than 10 explosive devices. It was fortunate for Thailand that those people were arrested before the bombs were planted, he added.

"If all those 10 explosive devices had been planted, they would have caused massive damage to Thailand. Thanks to all the sacred beings, the country was spared from disaster," Somyot said.

However, he also said that despite Karadag's confession, investigators would still need confirmation with more clinching evidence.

"The investigators are confident that Adem was the bomber but they still cannot be conclusive from the CCTV images," Somyot said.

Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday that DNA tests would be required to confirm that Karadag was the bomber.

He said that the authorities were not attempting to close the case and that it should be dealt with in accordance with evidence.

He said the confession could not prove that the man was the real bomber.

Metropolitan Police chief Lt-General Sriwara Rangsiphra-manakul yesterday said the investigation into the case was 90 per cent complete.

Commenting on Karadag's reported confession, he said that the investigators would need more evidence to strengthen their case against the suspect, as confession was insufficient to prove in court.

Source: The Nation

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Bangkok bomb suspect confesses to possession of explosives, say police

Yusufu Mieraili was handed over to the police yesterday by the NCPO. Photo: Royal Thai Police

One of the two men arrested over last month’s deadly Bangkok bombing has admitted to a charge of possessing explosives, police said Monday, in the first confession over the unprecedented attack on Thailand.

Thai police say the suspect, Yusufu Mieraili, was arrested last week near the border with Cambodia.

“We have informed him of the charge. He acknowledged and confessed to the charge,” national police spokesperson Prawut Thavornsiri told reporters.

Police have not revealed his nationality, although he was caught in possession of a Chinese passport with a birthplace listed as Xinjiang — home to the country’s oppressed Uighur Muslim minority.

A second man identified as Adem Karadag has already been charged over the crime after he was caught in a flat in a Bangkok suburb with bomb-making paraphernalia and dozens of fake Turkish passports.

Police have said neither man is thought to have physically planted the bomb on Aug 17 at a religious shrine in downtown Bangkok that killed 20 people.

But they are confident the pair are involved in the network blamed for the attack, which rocked the capital and dented faith in Thailand’s key tourist sector.

Mystery surrounds the alleged bombers’ motive but speculation has hardened on links to China’s Turkic-speaking Uighur minority.

Thailand deported scores of Uighur refugees to China early in the summer, prompting protests in Turkey where some nationalists hold a deep affinity with the minority group.

Source: Coconuts 

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Thailand PM urges bombers to surrender for own safety

Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha on Wednesday urged bombers who attacked Bangkok this week to turn themselves in for their own safety, saying, otherwise, they could be killed. 

The bombers could be murdered
by the masterminds who hired them to set off explosives at the Erawan shrine and Sathorn pier, Gen Prayut said, expanding on an earlier remark by national police chief Somyot Pumpunmuang that the suspects in the attacks were part of a "network." 

"They know authorities are determined to catch the bombers" and may kill them to ensure their silence, the general said. 

 "I would like to tell those behind the incidents that if they want to be safe, they should turn themselves in. Officials will work out legal solutions to guarantee their safety. It is better than hiding,"
the prime minister said.

Gen Prayut urged the public to look out for and report people who planned violent attacks, saying they would be easy to spot because they're generally amateurs who would be acting strangely and trying to disguise their appearances. 

He noted that CCTV cameras at both the Ratchprasong intersection and Sathorn pier have given authorities clear indications of the suspects' movements. 

 While not disclosing more information about the suspects, the general did rule out that Uighur Muslim terrorists were behind the bombings, saying that if that had been the case, an Uighur group would have 
claimed responsibility by now.

 He attempted to soothe the public by saying violent incidents can happen anywhere in the world at any time because people lacked morality and awareness of the damage that can result from their actions. 
 Source: BangkokPost



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