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3rd LD Writethru: Thai police arrest key suspect in Bangkok bombing

Xinhua, September 1, 2015 Adjust font size:

Thai military apprehended on Tuesday a suspect in the recent bombing attack at Erawan Shrine in downtown Bangkok, said Winthai Suwaree, spokesman of the National Council for Peace and Order.

The suspect was arrested in the forest of Thailand's Sa Kaeo province near the border of Cambodia at around 11 a.m. local time, Winthai told a televised press briefing.

The man has been handed over to the police for questioning and investigation, he said, adding the authorities will keep the public posted.

The suspect looks similar to a yellow-shirted man who, according to security camera footage, left a backpack at the shrine shortly before the explosion on Aug. 17, Winthai said.

He was taken to Bangkok in the afternoon for questioning, police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri told a press conference.

It is preliminarily believed that the suspect is an important member of the group that perpetrated the Erawan Shrine bombing, but his name and nationality have yet to be known, Prawut said. At least 20 people were killed and more than 120 others injured in the blast.

Police will try to learn more through examining the suspect's DNA, fingerprints and other physical features, he said. The authorities had issued arrest warrants for three more men, including two Turkish nationals and one of unknown nationality.

Previously, the court issued arrest warrants for four suspects, including the yellow-shirted man, a man in blue shirt who may be related to the bombing at the Sathorn pier on Aug. 18, a man who has stayed in a rented room in Bangkok's Min Buri area, where officials found explosive components and equipment and a Thai female named Wanna Suansan.

Investigators are currently communicating with the newly- arrested suspect in English, who does not speak Thai, Prawut said, adding that interpretation services would be provided once the investigators found out his native language. Endi