On Thursday, Thai police issued an arrest warrant for a Pakistani named Abdul Tawab, allegedly the head of a major human-smuggling operation, on explosives charges.
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Last week, media – based on information the Bangkok Post says police gave out – said that the yellow-shirted suspected bomber thought to have targeted the Erawan shrine in the blast that killed 20 – had fled to Malaysia with the help of Thai and Malaysian nationals, clearly riling Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda – who will become police chief October . 1. A total of 13 arrest warrants have now been issued in Thailand, plus two suspects in custody.
It says the 40-year-old Tawab frequented an apartment where police found bomb-making materials and arrested another suspect.
“I am not sure if we are able to talk with them (the three people)…in principle, they allow us to interrogate the suspects but we have to see”, he said, adding that he obtained useful information during his trip and the Malaysian police had been very cooperative.
Investigations revealed that he left Thailand on August 16 for Bangladesh, and police speculated that he might have gone to China. Uighurs allege they are oppressed under Chinese rule, and a small and sometimes violent separatist movement is active.
Alternatively, the Thai police could provide some questions to be asked through the Malaysian police in case there was a legal obstruction for the Thai police to interview the suspects, he said. The identification of previous suspects as being from Xinjiang, the west China home of the Uighurs, and from Turkey seemed to support a link to the Uighur political cause, but the naming of a Pakistani suspect bolsters the police theory that the case involves a multinational smuggling gang.
“We could not comply with the request because they are kept by the military and are needed for criminal proceedings”, Pol Lt Gen Prawut said.
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“This network is related to the smuggling of illegal workers”. “The people who planted the bomb at Rajprasong used this network’s services”. He is believed to be a Pakistani national and husband of Panissara Chaleerattarom, a 39-year-old Thai arrested on Sunday, police spokesman General Prawut Tavornsiri said here.
