Thailand issues warrant for Chinese man in bombing probe

Thai authorities have an arrest warrant out for a Chinese man in connection with last month's fatal bombing at a Bangkok shrine, a senior police spokesman said Saturday.

The man, identified as Abudusataer Abudureheman, was seen in surveillance camera footage with another bombing suspect already in custody. Abudusataer is wanted for jointly possessing arms without permission, said the spokesman, Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavonsiri.

Police have not been fully able to establish Abudusataer's role in the August 17 attack but believe he is part of a network tied to the bombing, Prawut said.

Abudusataer, also known as "Ishan," left Thailand on August 16, Prawut said. Police found he was living with Yusufu Meerailee, also from China, who was arrested last week trying to flee across the Thai border into Cambodia.

Prawut said Abudusataer was recently in Bangladesh but left the country at the end of August, according to information from Bangladesh's ambassador to Thailand.

 

Others in custody

 

Yusufu has confessed to carrying a rucksack that contained the bomb that killed 20 people at the Erawan Shrine, Prawut said earlier this week. He said he exchanged the rucksack with a man seen on surveillance cameras wearing a yellow t-shirt shortly before the attack.

Yusufu Meerailee, one of the suspects, wears a bulletproof vest as he is escorted by Thai authorities.

Prawut said Yusufu was linked to an apartment where another man was apprehended during raids on two addresses in Bangkok, a few days before Yusufu was caught. Yusufu's fingerprints were found on possible bomb-making equipment found at the apartment in a suburb of the capital, police said.

The other man was named as Adem Karadak.

Prawut said Thursday that Karadak may not have had a direct role on the day of the bombing, but that he may have been involved in some other way. Police believe the atrocity was carried out by a group of people.

Thailand: Erawan shrine reopens to the public

Yusufu has a Chinese passport, Prawut said, and Thai authorities have sent copies of it to Turkey and China to check its authenticity.

A Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman said China is following the investigation and is in close contact with Thai authorities.

News Courtesy: www.cnn.com