Thai temple blast: Foreign terror groups’ role unlikely
22 Aug 2015 3:32 AM IST
Thailand on Thursday said over 10 people were involved in carefully plotting the deadly attack at the Brahma temple here while ruling out involvement of global terror groups, even as it sought Interpol help in tracking down a foreign man suspected of planting explosives.
“The security agencies have collaborated with intelligence agencies from a lot of countries and have come to the same preliminary conclusion that the incident is unlikely to be linked to international terrorism,” Thai junta spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree told reporters.
Nobody has claimed responsibility for the attack at the Erawan Brahma temple, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangkok, that killed 20 people, including five Chinese, and injured more than 100 others on Monday night.
Colonel Winthai said Thai security agencies were in close touch with other countries. He said the preliminary investigation into the attack showed that the Chinese people were not the target because
other nationalities too were hurt.
Nationals from Hong Kong, the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore were also among the foreigners killed in the attack.
Thailand’s national police chief Somyot Poompanmoung gave a detailed profile of the mysterious assailants, saying there were more than 10 involved and they carefully planned the attack.
“This blast was carried out by teams...there was a survey team, a protection team, material providing team and exit team,” Somyot told reporters.
Police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thawornsiri said he is confident that some Thais were involved.
He also referred to the man in a yellow Tshirt captured by CCTV cameras and for whom an arrest warrant has been issued, saying the suspect did not use Thai language in communicating with the motorcycle taxi driver he hired.
The police are now hunting for two men and a woman captured on the camera standing near the prime suspect for interrogation.
Thai police said they did not know if the man suspected of planting the bomb was in the country or not, as they asked Interpol for help.
Thailand to hold rites of five religions for blast victims
Thailand on Thursday said it will hold religious rites from five different faiths, including Hinduism and Sikhism, in memory of the 20 people who were killed in the devastating bombing at the popular Lord Brahma temple here.
Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) will hold Buddhist, Christian, Islamic, Sikh and Hindu rites at the Ratchaprasong Intersection where the open air shrine is located early on Friday, said Supranee Satayaprakorb, director of the BMA's Culture, Sports and Tourism Department. Meanwhile, repairs to Brahma statue which was slightly damaged in Monday's bomb blast will begin soon. Department inspectors from the Office of the Traditional Arts examined the damage to the shrine and statue this week and estimated repairs would take about two weeks.
The explosion that killed 20 people and wounded 123 caused minor damage to the Brahma statute, said Bovornvet Rungrujee, director-general Fine Arts Department.
The inspection has found the blast impacted the figure in 12 places. Only the chin was broken and a glass window at the shrine was damaged, Rungrujee said. It is not necessary to move the statue from the shrine. Craftsmen will start repairs on Monday, he added. Plaster will be used to patch the
statue's face and other damaged parts.
Brahma temple, one of the most popular tourist attractions in Bangkok, was reopened on Wednesday for worshipers and tourists three days after the blast rocked the shrine.
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