Anti-Money Laundering Office chief Seehanat Prayoonrat explains the money trail of the network behind the Erawan shrine and Sathon pier bombings (Source: www.bangkokpost.com)
Malaysian police have informed their Thai counterparts that they have arrested two suspects in connection with the Erawan Shrine and Sathon pier bombings in August.
A police source said Thai authorities were informed about the arrest on September 11.
The source also said Police Lt. Gen. Suchart Teerasawat, an inspector-general who has been sent to Malaysia to lead a joint investigation team, returned to Thailand the same day.
Suchart is now in Yala province, waiting for Malaysia’s response to the extradition of the to Thailand.
He arrived in Malaysia on September 7 after learning a suspect in the blast had sneaked out of Thailand through southern border Narathiwat province.
Also on the day, Deputy National Police Chief Chakthip Chaijinda, who is overseeing the investigation into the bombings, left Thailand for an undisclosed country.
In another development, Chinese authorities have been contacted to help seek a man, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the bombings.
National Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the man named , also known as Izan or Ishan, arrived in Bangladesh on August 16 with a Chinese passport and stayed here until August 30.
The suspect declared on his embarkation card that he would transit Delhi before going to China.
Thai authorities have contacted with the Bangladeshi side, asking for information about the man’s two-week stay in the country. The suspect reportedly got an entry visa to Bangladesh in Bangkok.
The same day, Thailand’s Anti-Money Laundering Office chief Seehanat Prayoonrat said as many as 1.4 million baht (38,700 USD) was transferred between February 2014 and March 2015 to the suspects and those who were assumed to get involved in the deadly bomb attack.
One of the four recipients was Emrah Davutoglu, a Turkish national who was among the 11 people named in arrest warrants issued in the wake of the attack. He is the husband of a Thai suspect, Wanna Suansan, who has reportedly claimed to be now residing in Turkey.
The office also found ten bank accounts that had been opened in Thailand and were related to the attack. Of the counts, eight belonged to Wanna, one belonged to Emrah and one belonged to Mieraili Yusufu, the suspect who was arrested at the Thailand-Cambodia border.
The August 17 bombing near Erawan Shrine killed 20 people and injured more than 140 others. A second explosion took place the following day at a Bangkok pier with none being reportedly injured.-VNA
