#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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Thai Police Reward The Police With 3m Baht In Bangkok Bomb Case

When I first seen the news that Pol Gen Somyot Poompunmoung said the police team who tracked down the Bangkok bomb suspect arrested on Saturday afternoon were being rewarded with 3 million baht my first thought was, isn’t that their job?

As it turns out it’s not that “reward” money but cash donated by the police chief himself and a few of his mates to say thanks to the investigators for their hard work.

Of course, that does put things in a new light and thankfully it isn’t another PR disaster for authorities at a time when they are neck deep in the smelly stuff after amongst other blunders showing a suicide bombers vest during the televised announcement on Saturday evening when revealing information about the capture of a suspect in Nong Chok district earlier in the day making it appear it was found during the raid.

Anyway, some rich cops have just made some poor cops a little richer.

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#Bangkok, More attacks may have been planned, police say

EMBASSY SAYS ARRESTED MAN ISN'T A TURK; SUSPECT HAS LIVED IN NONG CHOK SINCE JUNE

 

 THE FOREIGN suspect arrested by police on Saturday for his alleged link to the August 17 bombing of the Erawan Shrine moved into Pool Anant Apartment in Bangkok's Nong Chok district sometime in June along with another foreigner believed to be Turkish, according to the building supervisor.

Thanakorn Wiwannakorn, 60, who has been the apartment's supervisor for over a decade, told police the 28-year-old suspect and his friend were quiet and mostly stayed inside their room on the fourth floor.

Other apartment tenants said one of them had a dark complexion, coming and going at regular hours, while the other hardly left the room and apparently got a haircut and shaved his beard a few weeks ago.

A source at the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) said military and police officials questioned the suspect on Saturday night and recorded the whole interrogation. They intend to question him more about renting the apartment room, bomb equipment and fake passports found in the room.

Meanwhile, the Turkish Embassy said the suspect arrested on Saturday was not a Turkish national.

Yesterday, police searched an apartment in Nong Chok after receiving a tip that two suspicious foreigners resided there. The apartment was identified as Ton Koon Mansion on Soi Chuam Samphun 3, near Pool Anant Apartment.

Earlier, police found two bags of urea fertiliser and other bomb-making ingredients at Mai-moo-na Garden, in nearby Min Buri district.

Police found no additional suspects at these locations.

Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda said police believe several suspects in the network were involved in the deadly bombing at Erawan Shrine, and that they were also connected with the attack on the pier near Sathorn Bridge the following day. A team consisting of four or five investigators is working on this case and they urged the public to be the eyes and ears of law enforcement.

Meanwhile, police believe the Shrine bomb suspect was prepared to carry out more attacks in other locations, judging from evidence found in his room.

According to Police spokesman Pol Lt-General Prawut Thawornsiri, evidence found inside the suspect's room included detonating chords similar to the detonating chord found at the related blast at the pier near Sathorn Bridge.

The August 17 bombing at the Erawan Shrine at Ratchaprasong intersection, a popular tourist destination, killed 20 people including foreign visitors and injured 171 others. The attack at the pier near Sathorn Bridge the following day resulted in no casualties.

The bombing suspect is being detained for questioning at the Infantry Battalion of the 11th Army Circle under martial law.

Prawut said it was not yet clear if the suspect was responsible for the attack at the Erawan Shrine or the pier near Sathorn Bridge but police believe he was a member of the network responsible for those attacks.

He said police were waiting for the results of a DNA test from a banknote the bomber used to pay his taxi fare and other samples found in the taxi.

Prawut said the suspect denied that he was a collaborator in the bomb attack. He had told police how he came into the country but police did not believe him.

Prawut denied reports that the suspect travelled from Istanbul and came to Thailand via Vietnam and Laos, saying police initially found the suspect stayed in an Asian country before travelling to Thailand.

Prawut said the police obtained pictures of other members of the gang and were checking their identities and nationalities. Immigration officials have been instructed to prevent other suspected gang members from leaving the country.

Police have not ruled out other possible motives for the bomb attack though they believe that it could be a personal vendetta after police crackdowns on foreigners.

Police also found evidence from a signal on the suspect's phone that he travelled to a location that was linked to the bomb attack. Prawut declined to say if that location was Hua Lam Phong train station, where the bomb suspect was seen hailing a tuk-tuk to take him to Erawan Shrine.

Prawut said a taxi driver was summoned for questioning several times because he gave conflicting statements that contradicted evidence. The telephone information also showed that the taxi driver contacted the suspect several times.

After the suspect was arrested on Saturday, the Turkish government sent a letter pledging to give Thailand its full support to fight terrorism.

Source: The Nation 
 

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