Bangkok Bomb Suspect Held At Checkpoint On Cambodian Border: Thailand PM
BANGKOK: Thailand's prime minister said Tuesday a second foreign man has been arrested at a checkpoint on the Cambodian border on suspicion of involvement in last month's deadly shrine bombing.It was the second confirmed arrest in connection with the 17 August blast that tore through a religious shrine in downtown Bangkok and killed 20 people, mostly ethnic Chinese devotees.
Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who also heads the nation's junta, was asked by reporters to comment on rumours a man had been detained.
"It's true. He has been arrested at Sa Kaeo checkpoint," Prayut said, referring to the Thai side of a border crossing with Cambodia.
Asked whether he is thought to be the person who planted the bomb at the Erawan shrine in Bangkok's busy Chidlom shopping district he replied: "We are interrogating. He is a main suspect and a foreigner."
The motive for the blast — Thailand's worst single mass-casualty attack — remains shrouded in mystery.
Suspicion has variously fallen on Thailand's bitter political rivals, organised criminal gangs, Islamist militants, rebels in the kingdom's strife-torn south and sympathisers of refugees from China's Uighur minority.
Arrest warrants have been issued for several people in connection with the blast.
The only named warrant is for a 26-year-old Thai Muslim woman called Wanna Suansan.
-AFP
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