A key suspect in the plotting of last month’s deadly bombing in Bangkok was last tracked via multiple flights to Turkey, Thai police has said. Malaysia meanwhile has announced that it has made three arrests related to the attack.
No group has claimed responsibility for the Aug. 17 bombing at the Erawan Hindu Shrine, which killed 20 people, including 14 foreigners, among them seven from Hong Kong and mainland China.
The man, Thai authorities say, played a leadership role in the bombing fled to Bangladesh using a Chinese passport on the eve of the blast and two weeks later transited in New Delhi and Abu Dhabi on his way to Istanbul, police said.
An arrest warrant has been issued for a man using the name Abu Dustar Abdulrahman, alias Izan, and circulated via Interpol.
We have evidence from the Bangladeshi embassy that Izan went to Abu Dhabi and then to Turkey.
— Prawut Thawornsiri, Spokesman, Thai Police
In Kuala Lumpur, the police said, two Malaysians and a Pakistani national had been arrested and were assisting with the investigation.
Malaysian and Thai police are working closely.
— Khalid Abu Bakar, Chief of Police, Malaysia
Initially, Thai police said they were unaware of those arrests. Prawut later said they were held over people smuggling and Malaysian counterparts believed they may have helped those involved in the Bangkok plot to escape.
Thailand had been following a lead that the suspected bomber, a yellow-shirted man caught on a security camera leaving the device at the shrine, could have been in Malaysia.
Police have been criticised for not finding answers as their probe enters a fourth week with no clarity about the motive or affiliation of those behind Bangkok’s deadliest bombing.
The stuttering probe has gained momentum since one of two detainees police refer to as Yusufu Mieraili, implicated a man called Izan, and admitted delivering a backpack to the yellow-shirted fugitive assumed to be the bomber.
Thai visas were issued separately in Kuala Lumpur to men using the names Abu Dustar Abdulrahman and Yusufu Mieraili.
Both had applied using Chinese passports, which has led to speculation the bombing may have been revenge by sympathisers of Uighur Muslims, many of which seek passage to Turkey via Thailand.
Thailand was condemned in July for forcibly repatriating 109 Uighurs to China, where they say they are persecuted, an accusation Beijing rejects.
(With Inputs from PTI)
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