An official from the Than To Tambon Administrative Organisation (TAO), in Yala province, has been taken into police custody on suspicion that he was involved in the car bombing in front of police apartments in Bannang Sata on Sunday, which killed a female teacher and injured 34 others.
Police identified the suspect as 27-year-old Mustafa, an assistant civil engineer attached to the Than To TAO.
According to the police, the pick-up truck used in the bombing was stolen from the Than To TAO office. It was driven into Sri Bang Lang Road, through a checkpoint in Ban Na Sot, Bannang Sata district, and parked near the police apartment building at 10.13am.
A motorcyclist was seen in CCTV footage arriving at the apartment building, about ten minutes later, to pick up the driver of the truck. Soon after, the bomb was detonated, just as 45-year old Rokiyoh Sarana, a Tadika Muslim school teacher at a masjid in Tambon Ba Cho, was riding a motorcycle past the apartments.
Police claim that Mustafa was the last person to be seen with the explosive-rigged vehicle.
The suspect claimed, however, that a colleague, identified as Marobhi, who was the last person to leave the Than To TAO, called him to ask for the car’s ignition key.
Police are looking for Marobhi and other suspects who are believed to be hiding near the Malaysian border.
Meanwhile, military intelligence sources say that the latest car bombing was carefully planned and executed and involved numerous people, including the scouts, the bomber, the guards and the motorcyclist who helped to facilitate the escape.
