Pattani shooting probe to take a month
An investigation into a shooting incident late last month in Pattani in which five villagers were killed - allegedly by Army paramilitary rangers - will be completed in a month, Deputy Prime Minister Yuthasak Sasiprapha said yesterday.
“The joint military-civilian probe will decide whether the rangers overreacted, violated rules of engagement, or used excessive violence,” he said. “If so, the villagers will be compensated.”
Yuthasak said villagers should be compensated because the rangers were partly responsible for the shooting. He said the criteria for compensation would follow the probe results and the amount decided later on.
Pattani police have set up a investigation team to look into the case. The team travelled to Bangkok to report on the progress of the probe to the Royal Thai Police.
A villager was shot dead, possibly by insurgents, at a tea shop in Narathiwat’s Si Sakhon district yesterday. The victim, 39, died at the scene after taking two bullets in the chest. Quoting eyewitnesses, police said two men on a motorcycle arrived at the shop and opened fire with a pistol on a group of four villagers in the shop, before they fled.
Police said that judging from the manner of the shooting, the attackers aimed to harm not only the victim but others as well, and were possibly insurgents wanting to hurt innocent civilians.
