Police issue progress report on probe into five violent incidents

A team of policemen tasked with the investigation into 44 cases will meet again Thursday evening to report on further progress, deputy national police chief Pol General Aek Angsananont said. This team met for the first time last week, he added. 

As many as 18 other people were believed to be involved in the Lak Si shooting as media footage and eyewitnesses interviewed by police showed them carrying and firing weapons. 

A pick-up truck allegedly carrying the suspects’ weapons is also being tracked, he added. 

So far, two suspects have been arrested for two killings in the first violent incident at Rajamangala Stadium in the Hua Mark area on November 30. 

Three other killings are still under investigation. The victims include Ramkhamhaeng University students and members of pro-government groups who converged to rally at the stadium as well as a teenager found burned to death in a bus that was set on fire by unknown assailants. 

An investigation into the second violent clash between anti-government protesters and police officers at the Thai-Japanese Stadium is still underway. Clashes broke out at the stadium during electoral candidacy registration on December 25 and 26, during which a junior police officer and a protester were killed. A man suspected of lobbing a firecracker at the Din Daeng Police Station has also been arrested. 

Probes into the multiple grenade attacks on protesters at Banthad Thong Road and Victory Monument as well as attacks on the home of Democrat Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and property owned by Bangkok Governor Sukhumbhand Paribatra are underway. The court is still considering arrest warrant petitions for suspects in these attacks. 

In relation to the attack at Victory Monument, the DNA of a suspect seen throwing a grenade has been collected from a vest and cap he left while fleeing. The suspect is a Thai national, but is not related to the police or military. 

Footage and photographs shared via social media are being compiled in the investigation into the shooting death of anti-government protest leader Suthin Tarathin at Wat Sri Iam in Bang Na district last month. These materials will be used together with forensic reports to help with the investigation, he said.