Thai police chief unable to confirm reports of Bangkok bomber’s arrest in Malaysia
Thailand’s national police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang on Tuesday said he could not confirm reports claiming that Malaysian authorities had arrested a key suspect in the deadly bomb attack in Bangkok.
Reports have claimed Malaysia has detained a man, believed to be the bomber, who was captured on CCTV in a yellow T-shirt near the site of the explosion at the city’s Erawan shrine on August 17. However, Somyot said he had not been informed of such a development.
“When news occurs, we have to examine it by all means in a bid to clarify it. However, at this stage, we cannot confirm this report,” he said.
Among the 20 dead were at least six Chinese nationals, including four from the mainland and two young women from Hong Kong.
According to local media, the man was apprehended in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday night and confessed to Malaysian police that he was the person who planted the explosive device at the shrine.
A Thai newspaper on Thursday published a picture of a man claimed to be the same suspect.
Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri responded to the news, saying he had seen the picture but could not confirm whether it was the man and that the Thai police had not been contacted by Malaysian authorities regarding the matter.
Somyot had previously severely criticised immigration officials over allegedly corrupt practices which have allowed illegal migrants to travel in and out the kingdom. A new Immigration Bureau chief was appointed on Monday.
At least one prime suspect, a Chinese Uygur man Meiraili Yusufu, was found to have entered Thailand from Cambodia via the eastern border province of Sa Kaeo.
