Police arrested a suspect they say is linked to southern separatists in connection with the alleged drugging and theft of passengers on an overnight train earlier this month.
Police said two mobile phones and three SIM cards believed stolen during the Aug. 5 incident were found in the possession of Usman, or Somnuek Adam, who they arrested Friday north of Bangkok in the Khlong Luang district of Pathum Thani province.
He’s accused, along with an accomplice, of stealing 10 mobile phones authorities suspect might have been intended for making bombs to use in the restive southern provinces.
“Their choice of seats before committing the crime showed they are professionals,” Akradej Pimolsri, deputy commander of the Crime Suppression Division, told the Bangkok Post. ”They intentionally sat … close to the seating of the car attendant so that one of them could keep an eye on the train employee. They also selected the targets whose seats were far away from theirs to avoid being the suspects of the investigation.”
All passengers aboard the train car were interrogated by authorities.
Somnuek, a 19-year-old from Yala province in southern Thailand, was questioned on Friday and Saturday. Police said he confessed to the robbery but denied drugging the passengers.
According to complaints filed by the passengers with Hat Yai police on August 5, 10 mobile phones and THB2,500 cash were taken from them during the trip. A number of passengers reported waking up with headaches and at least one believed he was drugged.
Police are still seeking Somnuek’s alleged accomplice and are focusing their investigation on a mosque in the Min Buri district of Bangkok they believe more stolen items were taken.
Because Somnuek didn’t sell the phones but still possessed them, authorities suspect a link to the southern insurgency. Southern border police are investigating whether the phones could have been intended for bombs.
Photo: Twitter @joe_black317
