Attacks kill policeman, hurt 2 sailors
NARATHIWAT: Authorities are stepping up probes into two attacks in the province that left one police officer dead and two sailors injured on Thursday.
In Si Sakhon district, the head of Si Sakhon police, Pol Col Anothai Jindamanee, and Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre officials met to discuss the murder of Pol Capt Nitinai Arbuwa, a Muslim policeman, who was killed on Thursday night.
Pol Capt Nitinai was shot dead by suspected insurgents in a drive-by shooting in Si Sakhon district shortly after attending religious activities to mark the holy month of Ramadan at a local mosque.
He was travelling home on a motorcycle about 8pm in Ban Sa Kor of tambon Sa Kor when a gunman riding pillion fired a handgun at him.
Pol Capt Nitinai, who was a deputy inspector with Si Sakhon station’s crime suppression unit, was hit twice in the head and chest. He died later in hospital.
A spent shell from a .357mm pistol was collected from the scene as evidence.
Pol Col Anothai believes the killers could be residents who attended the same Ramadan activities as Pol Capt Nitinai on the day of the murder.
Village chiefs, sub-district chiefs and locals were summoned for questioning.
However, they were reluctant to cooperate because they fear for their safety, Pol Col Anothai said.
Pol Capt Nitinai was yesterday buried according to Muslim tradition in his birthplace of tambon Kota Bharu, in Yala’s Raman district.
Meanwhile, investigators in Si Sakhon district were yesterday also searching for those responsible for a bomb attack on Thursday evening which wounded two sailors attached to Narathiwat Special Task Force Unit 32.
The sailors are Petty Officer Supphakrit Lerkkasem and Seaman Anan Pansiri.
Police said an insurgent network headed by Daree Walong could be responsible for the bombing. The group has been linked to several attacks on security forces in Narathiwat’s Yi-ngo and Bacho districts.
Fingerprints and DNA samples gathered at the scene of Thursday’s blast were sent for testing.
Forces were also searching several locations in the province where authorities believe the suspects could be in hiding.
The explosion occurred while PO Supphakrit and Seaman Anan were patrolling Highway 4066 between Talo Halo and Ban Palo Pata, police said.
Both received shrapnel wounds and were being treated yesterday at Naradhiwasrajanagarindra Hospital. Doctors at the hospital said both sailors were out of danger.