Suspects deny blast link

Two suspects detained in connection with Monday’s motorcycle bomb attack at the Pimolchai fresh market in Yala have denied any involvement in the blast which killed three and injured 34 others, a security source said yesterday.

“The two have denied any involvement in the attack and insist they know nothing about the plot or the people behind the incident,” said the source.

The source said one suspect, detained by a special task force of the 41st Ranger Regiment, was a resident of Yala’s Ban Sa Kho in tambon Tha Sap in Muang district and the other of tambon Ta Se of the same district.

The two were arrested in Khok Pho and Yarang districts of neighbouring Pattani province, said the source, adding they were being detained at an interrogation centre run by the 41st Ranger Regiment in Yala’s Raman district.

One of the suspects, however, admitted being involved in a shooting attack on security officials in Yala several years ago.

He is also being questioned for a report to be forwarded to the police, said the source.

The authorities spotted two suspects on footage from security cameras at the attack site, one riding the motorcycle used in the attack and the other walking along the route the motorcycle had taken, the source said.

Yala police chief, Pol Maj Gen Krisada Kaewchandi, meanwhile, said the hunt was still on for the market bomb culprits.

They are believed to be hiding in the Talat Kao (old market) area in Nakhon Yala municipality, and police were stepping up their search, he said.

In other news, 4th Army commander Lt Gen Piyawat Nakwanich, said one out of eight suspects wanted on arrest warrants issued by the Pattani provincial court on Jan 17 in connection with the Jan 10 security camera torching incident and a bomb attack on a military ranger team in Pattani’s Nong Chik district has been arrested.

The search continues for the others.