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20 others thought to be behind attacks in South

Police have arrested seven suspects believed to be involved in the spate of deadly bomb attacks in Hat Yai, Songkhla, Pattani and Yala on Saturday.

In the Hat Yai bomb incident, Narathiwat police said three of the suspects surrendered after a combined military-police team surrounded a house at a village in Rueso district yesterday.

A task force had been sent to the house following a tip-off that bomb suspects might be using it as their hideout.

The three _ Dulloh Haseng Yamaska, 50, Abdul Asis Hatama, 41, and Adnan Duramae, 31 _ emerged from the house after 30 minutes of negotiations with the officials.

Police said they found a pickup truck belonging to the head nurse of a local hospital in Raman district, Yala, during a search of the property. The nurse was killed in an Oct 19, 2011 attack. The truck was allegedly stolen by her assailants.

Police said the licence plate of the pickup truck had been found on a stolen Honda which was used to carry one of the bombs at the Hat Yai hotel.

The arrest of the two other suspects in the Hat Yai bomb attack was revealed at a separate press conference in Bangkok by national police chief Priewpan Damapong earlier yesterday.

Pol Gen Priewpan declined to reveal their identities but said the two were being interrogated by investigators.

"Preliminary findings from the investigation show there are 20 others who were involved in the attack," he said.

Pol Gen Priewpan's disclosure came as military and police officers stepped up their hunt for suspected bomb plotter Jehma Wani and a suspected bomb maker identified only as Mr Baeyu.

Both are suspected of being behind Saturday's car park bombing.

Police investigators at Provincial Region 9 said Mr Jehma was a former Islamic teacher and soldier and is a hardcore insurgent. They said Mr Baeyu is an expert bomb maker who is reclusive and security authorities do not have in-depth information about him. However, they believe both were trained to make bombs in a foreign country and are transferring their knowledge to insurgents in southern border provinces.

The car park bomb killed three people, injured hundreds of others and caused heavy damage to the hotel.

The car that supposedly carried 50-60 kilogrammes of radio-detonated explosives was deliberately parked on the third basement parking floor which is the middle floor of five underground floors of the hotel. It is understood the blast was intended to create maximum impact to vehicles parked at other parking floors to trigger chain explosions.

Pol Lt Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, commissioner of Provincial Police Region 9, said yesterday the provincial police office was offering a 1 million baht bounty for the arrest of the two suspects in addition to the 500,000-baht bounty that Songkhla governor Grisada Boonrach had already set for them.

Meanwhile, security authorities were closing in on some suspects thought to be responsible for the bombings in Pattani and Yala provinces on Saturday.

Pol Maj Gen Pichet Pitisetpan, chief of Pattani police, yesterday brought to the press a male bombing suspect identified as Samlee Huluduereh, 34.

The man, a Yala local, was arrested at his wife's house in tambon Muang Tia of Mae Lan district, Pattani. Security authorities confiscated from him a 100-metre length of cable, a set of pliers, nails and a mobile phone.

The suspect was identified from recordings of six surveillance cameras, witnesses' accounts and a record of his cell phone use. He was suspected to be the person who detonated a bomb-laden motorcycle in front of a food shop in tambon Mae Lan, Pattani, on Saturday. The explosion injured a senior police officer and damaged properties.

Mr Samlee denied he was involved in the bombing. He said he had been with his wife on Saturday.

Investigators questioned a 22-year-old suspect identified as Anuwat Tohjeh about the bombings in Yala province on Saturday. The man is a local of tambon Yupo in Muang Yala district and had allegedly driven a vehicle following a bomb-laden pickup truck before the first car bomb went off in the district.

Police identified the man from recordings of surveillance cameras. He denied any involvement in the blast.

On Tuesday, soldiers, police and local administrators searched Ban Pongruerai village in tambon Bannang Sareng of Muang Yala district and found what were believed to be components of improvised explosive devices including chopped steel rods, electronic circuits, 17 used gas cylinders, and wires in some houses.

Senior police adviser Pol Gen Worapong Chewpreecha said police were about to seek warrants for the arrest of some suspects for the bombings in Yala.

The National Human Rights Commission yesterday expressed condolences to people affected by the bombings in Yala, Pattani and Songkhla provinces last Saturday.

Noppong Theeraworn, chair of the Yala Chamber of Commerce, said the bombings on Ruammit Road in Muang Yala district affected the economy of the province and the chamber would organise events to stimulate it in a month. Initial economic damages are estimated at 80 million baht there.

Col Pramote Prom-in, deputy spokesman of the southern command of the Internal Security Operations Command, said yesterday army chief Prayuth Chan-ocha ordered soldiers to improve the database of suspects and suspicious vehicles in the far South and to strictly search suspects and suspicious vehicles in communities, school markets and other special safety zones.

The deputy spokesman said special law enforcement was necessary in some areas for the sake of public safety.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra said yesterday her government was working harder to ensure public safety and restore confidence following the southern bombings.