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Thai police arrest Bangkok bomb suspect Bangkok bomb: Thai police arrest suspect
(35 minutes later)
Thai police have arrested a suspect in connection with the bomb attack on a Hindu temple in central Bangkok that killed 20 people, including a British national. Thai police have arrested a foreign man in connection with the bomb attack on a Hindu temple in central Bangkok that killed 20 people, the first potential breakthrough in a case that appeared to have stalled.
A police spokesman told Reuters that the arrested man fitted the description of the main suspect in the attack on the Erawan shrine in the central Chidlom district of the Thai capital. Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the arrested man was 28 years old and thought to be part of a network that carried out the deadly attack two weeks ago as well as a smaller explosion that caused no injuries one day later.
Police arrested the suspect on Saturday in Nong Jok, on the northern outskirts of Bangkok. “Our preliminary investigation shows that he is related to both bombings,” Prawuth said.
Officers raided an apartment used by the man and discovered possible bomb-making materials, police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said. The suspect “looks like the one we are looking for”, he said. “They also found a lot of materials which can be used to make bombs.” Prawuth said police found parts of bomb-making materials, such as detonators, and a metal pipe, apparently meant to be used as a bomb.
Prawut said that the person who had been arrested was a foreigner, but refused to say if he was Turkish, as had been reported by some Thai media. “We also found a number of passports,” he said. Photographs of ball bearings as well as what appeared to be a stack of Turkish passports were shown during the police broadcast.
BBC correspondent Jonathan Head tweeted that Thai police do not believe the man arrested on Saturday was responsible for the bombing. Police have not said whether the man is the prime suspect, captured on CCTV dropping a black rucksack off at the blast scene minutes before the explosion. Until now, that footage has been the main evidence in the investigation into the worst peace-time bombing in Thailand’s history.
Thai police do not believe suspect arrested today is Erawan bomber. But sure he was involved in bombing. Prawut did not confirm or deny that the arrested man was also the man caught on security cameras. He said: “We believe he is a culprit in the same network. More details will be given later.”
Thai media published photographs of a man who did not appear to be Thai in a yellow shirt and beige shirts sitting in front of two police with his hands cuffed. In front of him lay plastic bags which reports said were full of bomb-making materials. Thai media published photographs of a man who did not appear to be Thai in a yellow shirt and beige shirts sitting in front of two police with his hands cuffed. In front of him lay plastic bags which reports said were full of bomb-making materials. He had light brown hair and a short beard.
Police have not confirmed whether the man was the same as the suspect captured dropping a black rucksack off at the blast scene minutes before the explosion. The hair of the man in police photos was much lighter and he had a short beard. Police arrested the man on Saturday in Nong Jok, on the northern outskirts of Bangkok. Authorities had previously said they were looking for a foreign man and they have sent plain-clothed officers to bars and restaurants frequented by foreigners to try to find the suspect.
Police say they have sent plain-clothed officers to bars and restaurants frequented by foreigners to try to find the suspect. Police said 100 officers were involved in the operation to arrest the man and that he was being questioned.
Immigration officers at Bangkok’s international airport have a printpit of the digital sketch of the suspect caught on the CCTV on the night of the bombing. Some sketches show him without glasses, wearing a hat or with no hair.
The military government said on Thai TV that the arrested man was in possession of detonators, ball bearings and a pipe. Authorities say the blast was caused by a pipe bomb.
Footage of a stack of passports was also shown on the broadcast. Police said 100 officers were involved in the operation.
Police have released a photo of the man’s passport, which appears to be badly made, with two expiry dates shown. The document appeared to be a Turkish passport, belonging to a man born in 1987.Police have released a photo of the man’s passport, which appears to be badly made, with two expiry dates shown. The document appeared to be a Turkish passport, belonging to a man born in 1987.
The main evidence in the case has been grainy CCTV footage of a man in a yellow T-shirt dropping a black backpack near the shrine minutes before an explosion ripped through it on 17 August. During the two-week investigation, police released a detailed electronic sketch of the prime suspect, showing a thin man with dark, shaggy hair and a light complexion, wearing black-rimmed glasses and wristbands on both arms.
Days later police released a detailed electronic sketch of the suspect, showing a thin man with dark, shaggy hair and a light complexion, wearing black-rimmed glasses and wristbands on both arms.
The image has been widely circulated in Thailand, including on roadside billboards, along with offers of a reward for information leading to an arrest. The total reward on offer from both police and private citizens last week stood at more than £200,000.The image has been widely circulated in Thailand, including on roadside billboards, along with offers of a reward for information leading to an arrest. The total reward on offer from both police and private citizens last week stood at more than £200,000.
Immigration officers at Bangkok’s international airport have a printout of the digital sketch of the suspect caught on the CCTV on the night of the bombing. Some sketches show him without glasses, wearing a hat or with no hair.
Explosive device materials said to be found in Nongjok apartment. Photo courtesy of @winaithornPNC #BangkokBlast pic.twitter.com/VI9k7mQTkv
Police are yet to determine a clear motive for the bombing at the Erawan shrine - an attraction popular with Chinese tourists as well as Thais, which also left more than 120 people injured.Police are yet to determine a clear motive for the bombing at the Erawan shrine - an attraction popular with Chinese tourists as well as Thais, which also left more than 120 people injured.
It is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, it is also popular among Buddhists. It sits on a corner of a central Bangkok intersection, near suit tailors, five-star hotels and restaurants.
Authorities say the blast on 17 August was caused by a pipe bomb.
The Turkish passports shown on Saturday caused Thai media to speculate that ethnic Uighur, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority from China’s western Xinjiang region, might be behind the bombing.
Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uighurs to China in July, angering the community and causing an outcry from human rights groups and the United Nations who said they could face persecution and abuse.
Many Uighurs have fled to south-east Asia hoping to then travel to Turkey, which has strong culture links to the group and has sheltered them for decades.
Observers have also suggested that separatists in the south who have been waging an insurgency for years could be behind the bombing, but they have never carried out a large-scale attack on foreigners.