Bomb scare 'politically motivated'
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Chalerm vows to unmask culprits behind home-made bomb planted near the Government Lottery Office
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung yesterday said he suspected Tuesday’s bomb scare near the Government Lottery Office was politically motivated and aimed at discrediting the government.
He said the home-made bomb – the circuit of which was found to be incomplete – was not intended to cause physical injuries.
Chalerm said he had instructed police to take decisive action against the trouble-makers responsible for the bomb scare. “In three days, we will know who are those villains. They can’t get away with what they did,” he said.
The deputy PM in charge of police affairs said he was convinced the culprits were government enemies who “may not be politicians but are political supporters.
“These people are regulars and there are not many groups of them. Just wait and see, they will be tracked down,” he said.
Chalerm denounced those behind the bomb scare as the bomb was planted just one day after His Majesty the King’s birthday and on an important thoroughfare.
“They simply want to discredit the government, and now these despicable people are laughing,” he said.
When asked if he was concerned about possible trouble-making during the upcoming festive season, Chalerm said that he did not think so as good preparations had been made by the police. He assured the public of peace and safety during the New Year celebrations.
“I don’t think extra safety measures are needed during the New Year celebrations,” he added.
The bomb was found on a traffic island on Rajdamnoen Avenue about 200 metres from the GLO. The explosive device was an iron pipe wrapped in tape, with a digital clock, electrical circuit, batteries, and small pieces of metal and broken glass. The clock was set at the number 1, which could be 1am or 1pm.
After the bomb squad defused the explosive using a high-pressure water gun, they found that its circuit was incomplete.
Meanwhile, police investigation into the bomb scare was under way yesterday, with the focus on examination of video recordings from security cameras in nearby locations.
Police Colonel Kanitchai Mahintarathep, investigation superintendent of the Metropolitan Police Bureau, said the investigators were going to study video images to be obtained from the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration and private businesses near the site where the bomb was planted. This was to determine the identity of the culprits.
Lt-Colonel Somyot Udomrak-sasap, investigation inspector from Chana Songkhram Police Station, said there was no progress in the probe but that detectives were sent to locate witnesses.
The chief investigator, deputy National Police chief Police General Panupong Singhara na Ayutthaya, has called a meeting of the police investigators responsible for the case tomorrow afternoon.
