‘MASTERMIND’ of Pattani car-bomb identified with eight accomplices, said to have fled to Yala.

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‘MASTERMIND’ of Pattani car-bomb identified with eight accomplices, said to have fled to Yala.

ONE OF the suspects in the Big C Pattani car bomb explosion has identified eight accomplices, including the mastermind behind the attack that injured more than 60 people on Tuesday. 
Fourth Army Area chief Lt-General Piyawat Nakwanich yesterday released a list of the car-bomb suspects. 
The list is based on information from Su-ai-mee Sama-ae, who has been interrogated at a military base in Pattani province since his arrest on Thursday night.
According to Su-ai-mee, Annungwa Kazor is the alleged mastermind, while Maolana Samoh and Abdul-aze Japakeeya are responsible for finding others to actually carry out the attack. 
He said that Isma-ae Morzu was in charge of getting the vehicle that would be used as the car bomb. Manasay Zyredee was tasked with assembling explosives and concealing them in the vehicle, alongside Muhammad Kazor. All along, Ruslan Baimor and Bukhori Lamzoh served as lookouts. 
To get the vehicle for the plot, the gang allegedly lured Nuson Kajornkam, a tent-service provider from Yala province, to Pattani and killed him on Tuesday morning, according to Su-ai-mee. About five hours later, his pickup truck was packed with explosive-filled cylinders and parked in front of the Big C Pattani. 
Nuson left behind his wife, who is a nurse, and their two children. 
His widow, Sawitree Kachornkham, said yesterday that she did not want to live in Yala anymore because it was not safe, even in broad daylight. 
The death of her husband was a big blow. “I hope such a thing will never happen to anyone else. I really would like to ask the killer whether they have ever loved someone,” she said. 
Pattani Governor Weeranan Pengchan said all eight suspects implicated by Su-ai-mee had criminal records.
“They are wanted for many other crimes in Pattani and Yala,” he said. 
He added that the ongoing investigation suggested that the eight suspects had already fled to the neighbouring Yala province. 
Pattani Special Taskforce’s chief Maj-General Jatuporn Klampasut said that the chief executive of the Tambon Nong Chik Administrative Organisation and a local imam had been aware of Nuson’s killing. 
“At this point, there is no evidence that they directly took part in the robbery. So, we have just interviewed them for information. We have also questioned five locals for the same purpose,” Jatuporn said. 
Suspicious activities
Colonel Yuttanam Petchmuang, a deputy spokesman for the Forward Command of the Internal Security Operations Command Region 4, said Piyawat had already asked relevant authorities to gather evidence fast to bring all the culprits to justice. 
Following the explosion, an arrest warrant was issued for Makorseng Ma-ae, 25. But authorities are still searching for him. 
Yuttanam urged people to alert authorities if they detected any suspicious activities. 
HM King Maha Vajiralongkorn has assigned a delegate to provide flowers and gifts of support to victims at hospitals. 
Unrest has raged in Thailand’s deep South for more than a decade. Bloody incidents have taken place on almost a daily basis. 
Yesterday afternoon, more than 100 religious leaders, community leaders and locals joined a prayer in front of Big C Pattani to ask for peace. They condemned the use of violence, including the blast that hit the area a few days ago.
Meanwhile, the Sheikhul Islam Office has released a letter condemning the incidents in Pattani province that injured 61 innocent people when two bombs were detonated on Tuesday afternoon at a Big C store in Muang Pattani district. 
The office said that the vicious act had been designed to take innocent lives and thus violated the teachings of Islam, which clearly forbids such a crime. 
The Sheikhul Islam Office urged the perpetrators to refrain from engaging in further violence against local residents. 
The office also implored the government to do everything in its power to prevent such incidents from occurring, while providing assistance to victims and bringing the culprits to justice. 
The letter ends with a plea to the |administration to find peaceful solutions to end the violence that is plaguing the South, especially by means of promoting public |participation.
Source - TheNation
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#Thailand - Pattani bomber suspects identified

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Camera catches images of four ‘linked to BRN’ in the act; at least 80 people injured

A MASSIVE HUNT has been launched for four men who were allegedly involved in the double blasts at a Big C department store in Pattani province on Tuesday after security camera footage caught them in the act. Meanwhile, the number of people reported injured rose to 80, including children.

Colonel Pramote Prom-in, spokesman of the regional Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc), said the footage showed two men park the pickup carrying explosives at the entrance of the Big C store and two others riding a motorcycle waiting for them at the front of the store.

A security source said authorities identified the four after checking files of suspects connected to security-related crimes as well as other evidence.

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 “We believe that the Pattani attackers can be linked to two others suspects, Abdulloh Samae and Harim Dolloh. Arrest warrants were issued for Abdulloh for a car-bomb explosion in Pattani on February 26, 2016 and for Harim after a blast at a Southern View Hotel in the province on August 24, 2016,” the source said.

Investigators said evidence showed the bombers had mixed 100 kilograms of ammonia nitrate with petrol and then packed the mixture in two gas cylinders that were hidden in the stolen pickup. They said preliminary evidence led them to believe that the attacks were the work of the Barisan Revolusi Nasional movement, or BRN, and could be linked to a bomb attack on a market in Pattani’s Muang Pattani municipality on October 24. One person was killed and 20 others injured in that attack.

Pattani police chief Pol Maj-General Piyawat Chalermsri has ordered an investigation into the whereabouts of Nuson Kajornkam, the owner of the pickup, who was still missing yesterday. 

Meanwhile, Isoc Colonel Peerawatch Sangthong said he personally condemned the Pattani attack as being the most wicked act imaginable as women and children were among the injured.

 “Video footage from security cameras at the scene clearly shows the culprits, so it is expected that we will catch them soon,” Peerawatch said.

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Army commander in chief General Chalermchai Sittisart has personally ordered the arrest of the attackers to bring them to justice as soon as possible. Security agencies have been put on high alert and ordered to collect intelligence to prevent future attacks.

The public was required to cooperate with officials in the hunt for the attackers, Peerawatch said, calling for ordinary people to be the eyes and ears for authorities to solve the crime.

He also praised security guards at the Big C store for their decision to evacuate people from the store after the first bomb blast. Their acts helped minimise the number of injured people, he said.

Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre’s secretary-general Supanat Siranthawineti also denounced the attack.

Supanat said the attackers had stolen the pickup of a Thai Buddhist who worked in legitimate jobs, turned it into a car bomb and attacked a store where a large crowd of Thai Muslims were shopping. “What they did ravaged innocent people,” he said.

The centre will compensate people who were injured in the attack according to the law and give two student uniforms to each parent who was affected by the bombs.

Authorities believed the attackers intended “mass killing” since the car bomb was parked at the only entrance of the store and the initial explosion seemed intended to drive shoppers towards the exit. The first explosion was triggered by big firecrackers inside the store, sparking a panic that forced people towards the second bomb.

Meanwhile, students at Prince of Songkla University’s Pattani campus have been warned to avoid crowded places in the wake of the attack.

University deputy rector Imjit Lertpongsombat also offered condolences to the injured and others affected by the bombing. She urged students and university staff to monitor news about unrest in the region but to avoid panicking. People were also told to be more cautious about their surroundings and to avoid crowded places.

One student who asked not to be named said she was saddened by the attack in her hometown. “The people who did this are really mean – they hurt many innocent people,” she said. 

Another student, Rohani Yeedam, said the attackers wanted to demonstrate their ability and create chaos to draw public attention. “They obviously wanted to kill innocent people. Otherwise they wouldn’t have planted the bomb outside a Big C store.”

The Public Health Ministry’s Mental Health Department has dispatched a team of psychiatrists to assist the victims of the bombing.

Dr Boonruang Triruangworawat, the department’s director-general, said Public Health Minister Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn had ordered a team from Songkhlarajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital and the Mental Health 12 Centre to go to the province.

Boonruang said the team would examine people who witnessed the attack for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder. 

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Source - TheNation

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