An explosives ordnance disposal team, which was dispatched to secure the area after the blast, found the shrapnel-ridden body of officer Mujarintee Srikaew on the ground two metres away from the explosion.
An investigation revealed that six soldiers were on patrol in the area to make it safe for schoolteachers to travel through when a group of insurgents triggered a detonator. The five-kilogram bomb that was hidden in the ground exploded, instantly killing the officer.
Pattani police chief Pol Maj-General Jirawat Payuntham said the soldiers normally arrive every day to secure the area. The insurgents might have kept a tab on their movements before hiding the bomb there and later detonating it.