Close eye on teens from South in Ramkhamhaeng
Police have stepped up measures to closely monitor teenagers from the South who are living in Bangkok's Ramkhamhaeng area after investigation indicated that southern insurgents might be behind the May 26 bomb attack.
A well-informed source from the Metropolitan Police Bureau said all police units in the capital had been ordered to coordinate efforts to monitor areas where students from Ramkhamhaeng University hang out, and check the background of teens hailing from the three southern border provinces.
Police have arrested Narathiwat man Id-ris Satapor, 24, who admitted that he was a lookout for the May 26 bomb attack on Ramkhamhaeng street stalls. He also admitted to collaborating with suspects Khamphi Lateh, Ibroheng Waemae and Harem Malee for the attack.
The source said the Metropolitan Police Bureau was seeking cooperation from the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre to hunt down the three suspects.
On Tuesday, national police chief Adul Saengsingkaew and other senior police officers denied that Id-ris was linked to southern insurgents.
However, the police source, who is on the investigation team, insisted yesterday that the probe showed Id-ris as an active insurgent who had come to Bangkok to extend the insurgency to the capital.
According to the source, Id-ris had travelled between Bangkok and the deep South quite frequently for several months before the bombing. The source said the suspect always rented a room opposite the university, and was there on May 26.
The source said investigators had told Metropolitan Police Commissioner Pol Lt-General Khamronwit Thupkrajang that Id-ris was found to be linked to a gun attack in Pattani’s Sai Buri district in 2010 as well as the killing of Buddhist monks at Promprasit Temple in Pattani’s Panare district in 2005.
