Bangkok bomb attack suspects Adem Karadag and Yusufu Mieraili have been forced to reenact their alleged role in bombing the Erawan Shrine, Thai police say.
Such re-enactments are standard police procedure in Thailand.
Earlier police said one of the men, named as Adem Karadag, was suspected of planting the bomb in the attack on August 17, contradicting what they had previously said.
The motive for the bombing, which killed 20 people, remains unclear.
Fourteen foreigners were among those killed.
Authorities now say they have enough evidence to prosecute the two men and say that Adem Karadag has confessed.
This contradicts earlier statements from police that neither of two men were the main suspects for the attack.
Adem Karadag, who has also been named as Bilal Mohammed, was arrested in late August in a raid on a flat on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok. His lawyer says he was not in Thailand at the time of the attack.
Police have released warrants for a total of 17 people over charges stemming from the attack.
The suspects are believed to carrying Chinese, Thai, Turkish and Pakistani passports, though their exact origins are unclear as some are thought to be using fake documents.
Many of the suspects named by Thai police have Muslim-sounding names, prompting speculation that they may be linked to jihadist networks or to Uighur separatist militants from China.
However, the police have not suggested that the attack was politically motivated.
The Erawan shrine – with its four-faced golden statue of the Hindu god Brahma – is considered sacred by Thai Buddhists, and attracts many foreign visitors.
Adem Karadag, who was arrested in Thailand over a deadly bombing at Bangkok’s Erawan shrine in August is indeed the bomber, say Thai police contradicting earlier statements.
A police spokesman said the man Adem Karadag was the figure in a yellow shirt seen on CCTV leaving a bag at the Erawan shrine.
Thai police had earlier said neither of two men in their custody were the main suspects for the August 17 attack.
The motive for the bombing, which killed 20 people, remains unclear.
Fourteen foreigners were among those killed.
Police have released warrants for a total of 17 people over charges stemming from the attack.
The suspects are believed to carrying Chinese, Thai, Turkish and Pakistani passports, though their exact origins are unclear as some are thought to be using fake documents.
Adem Karadag, who has also been named as Bilal Mohammed, was arrested in late August in a raid on a flat on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok.
Thai police had said DNA samples taken from him did not match the DNA found on evidence that the bomber is believed to have left behind on the night of the attack.
Police also appeared to rule out that a second man in their custody – identified as Yusufu Mieraili – was a main suspect in the attack.
However, on September 25, police spokesman Prawut Thornsiri said one of the warrants issued was for “Bilal Mohammed, who is the man in yellow who placed the rucksack at the Erawan shrine”.
“All the information we have leads back to him.”
Many of the suspects named by Thai police have Muslim-sounding names, prompting speculation that they may be linked to jihadist networks or to Uighur separatist militants from China.
However, the police have not suggested that the attack was politically motivated.
The Erawan shrine – centered around a four-faced golden statue of the Hindu god Brahma – is considered sacred by Thai Buddhists, and attracts many foreign visitors.
Abudusataer Abudureheman, the key suspect in last month’s deadly Bangkok shrine bombing, has fled to Turkey, Thai police say.
Police believe Abudusataer Abudureheman, also known as Ishan, organized the bombing, which killed 20 people.
Abudusataer Abudureheman, 27, from China’s Xinjiang province is thought to have travelled to Istanbul at the end of August.
However, Turkey has denied that Abudusataer Abudureheman fled to the country, saying it was not informed by Thai authorities that he was trying to enter.
Earlier Malaysian police announced the arrests of three people suspected of helping the bombers flee. Thai police have already arrested two suspects.
Over the weekend, an arrest warrant was issued for Abudusataer Abudureheman. Police say he left Thailand for Bangladesh on August 16, one day before the bombing.
“He departed Dhaka on August 30 for Delhi… From Delhi, he continued his travel to Abu Dhabi, and from Abu Dhabi he travelled on August 31 to Istanbul. This is his final destination,” a police spokesperson said.
No group has said it carried out the attack at the Erawan shrine on August 17, but Thailand has alleged that a network that includes foreigners was behind the bombing.
Two Malaysians and one Pakistani have been arrested in Malaysia in connection with last month’s deadly bombing at the Erawan shrine in Bangkok, Thailand.
Malaysian police chief Khalid Abu Bakar said they were detained a few days ago and were assisting with the investigation.
Thailand has launched a manhunt for those responsible for the bombing which killed 20 people and injured 120 on August 17.
Thai police have arrested two people and are searching for a third man, said to be from China’s Xinjiang region.
Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters on September 14 that the three suspects are a Pakistani man, a Malaysian man, and a Malaysian woman, who were arrested based on a tip-off from Thai authorities.
Photo Reuters
He said the suspects would not yet be transferred to Thailand, as Malaysian police are still investigating. He did not give further details on the reason for their detention.
No group has stepped forward to claim responsibility for the attack at the Erawan shrine, but Thailand has alleged that a network which includes foreigners was behind the bombing.
Over the weekend, Thailand issued an arrest warrant for a 27-year-old Muslim man called Abudusataer Abudureheman, also known as Ishan, from Xinjiang.
Abudusataer Abudureheman is reported to have left Bangkok for Bangladesh one day before the bomb blast, and is believed by police to have played a prominent role in the attack.
Thai authorities have already arrested two other suspects: Adem Karadag, whose nationality has yet to be verified, and Yusufu Meraili, who officials say is a Chinese national born in Xinjiang.
Xinjiang is home to a significant number of Uighur Muslims, and Chinese authorities have faced criticism for the perceived harsh restrictions placed on religion and culture in the region.
Thailand recently found itself in the spotlight following its forced repatriation of more than 100 Uighurs to China.
Yusufu Mieraili, a key suspect in the last month’s Bangkok shrine bombing, has confessed to giving a bag containing a device to the man who carried out the attack, Thai police say.
National police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri’s announcement came as Yusufu Mieraili was taken to a train station in Bangkok to re-enact the alleged handover.
The August 17 bomb attack at the Erawan Shrine killed 20 people.
Two foreign men are in custody, but the bomber himself has not been found.
The man, wearing a yellow T-shirt, was seen placing a backpack at the popular shrine and leaving, shortly before the explosion.
Prawut Thawornsiri told reporters at the Hua Lamphong station in Bangkok: “This is the area where he met the man in a yellow shirt to exchange the backpack.”
Photo Reuters
“Yusufu said the backpack that he carried was heavy and it was a bomb,” he said.
The suspect had allegedly told police that he travelled to the station from an apartment in the outskirts of Bangkok where police had found bomb-making materials in an earlier raid.
Yusufu Mieraili, who has not been charged, was intercepted earlier this month as he attempted to cross the border into Cambodia.
Police have not confirmed his nationality but say he was carrying a Chinese passport.
Yusufu Mieraili was also taken to the Erawan Shrine as part of a police re-enactment, according to AP news agency.
On September 8, the suspect was taken to visit apartments in other parts of Bangkok where police said they found the bomb-making materials as well as passports.
Thailand’s police regularly conduct re-enactments with suspects, a practice which has been criticized as implying guilt before trial.
The other man in custody has been named by local media as Adem Karadag.
Local media have quoted police sources as saying that they are hunting for the alleged mastermind of the attack, who is thought to have left Thailand a day before the attack.
Police also released a photo of the man, who was named as 27-year-old Abudureheman Abudusataer, also known as “Izan” or “Ishan”.
The statue at Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine has been repaired after damages caused by last month’s deadly bomb attack in the city.
The Erawan Shrine’s centerpiece is a four-faced golden statue of the Hindu god Brahma. It was damaged in at least 12 places, most obviously the chin of one of the faces.
The shrine is also considered sacred by Thai Buddhists, and attracts many foreign visitors. The unveiling of the repaired shrine on September 4 was attended by worshippers and Thai soldiers.
The repairs were carried out by the culture ministry’s fine arts department.
At the opening ceremony, Culture Minister Vira Rojpojchanarat said the statue would help “create confidence and raise the morale of Thai people and tourists”.
People have continued to visit the shrine since it reopened shortly after the bomb blast on August 17.
Two people have been detained in connection with the blast, both foreign, and a number of arrest warrants have been issued. But no individual or group has yet claim responsibility for it.
Bangkok police investigating the deadly Erawan Shrine bombing say fingerprints on possible bomb-making equipment found at the weekend match those of suspect Erah Davutoglu, who was detained on September 1.
Police believe the foreign man, arrested close to the Cambodian border, is a key part of a network behind the attack.
Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the suspect could have carried the bomb to the Bangkok flat or the shrine itself.
Prawut Thavornsiri also said an eighth arrest warrant had now been issued over the blast.
He said the new suspect was Emrah Davutoglu, a Turkish man and the husband of Thai suspect Wanna Suansan.
Her name was on the lease of one of the flats raided at the weekend.
However, a woman claiming to be Wanna Suansan told AFP news agency from Turkey on September 1 that she had not been in Thailand for three months.
No claim of responsibility has been made for the August 17 bomb, which killed 20 people.
Two foreign men are now in detention. Police have not confirmed their nationalities.
However, they say the suspect held on September 1 closely resembles a man wearing yellow seen on security camera footage leaving a bag at the shrine shortly before the blast.
The first detainee was arrested in a raid on an apartment in Bangkok on August 29, which also uncovered detonators, ball bearings, a metal pipe and several fake passports.
The second unidentified man was seized in Sa Kaeo province, east of Bangkok on the border with Cambodia, on September 1.
Deputy police chief Chakthip Chaijinda said he had been speaking Turkish.
Prawut Thavornsiri said police could now “confirm that this man is directly involved with the bomb material”, as his fingerprints matched those on a bottle of suspect material found in the Bangkok flat.
He was also carrying a bank book bearing the same name as a Chinese passport which has been widely circulated by Thai media.
Reports say the passport belonged to the man detained on the border, and shows him as coming from China’s Xinjiang province, home to a significant Muslim Uighur population.
Thailand and China have refused to confirm the passport is that of the suspect.
If it is confirmed that would establish Muslim Uighurs as principal suspects in the bomb attack, a very sensitive issue for both countries after the controversial deportation of more than 100 Uighurs from Thailand to China in July.
China has long faced criticism for the perceived harsh restrictions it places on religion and culture in its western Xinjiang region – where the majority of its predominantly Muslim, Uighur minority live.
The bombing of the Erawan Shrine, a Hindu site popular with Thai Buddhists and tourists, was the deadliest-ever such attack in Thailand.
Thai police have arrested a second foreign suspect in connection with the deadly bombing at Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine on August 17, PM Prayuth Chan-ocha has revealed.
The male suspect was arrested in Sa Kaeo province, east of Bangkok on the border with Cambodia, Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.
“He is a main suspect and a foreigner,” the prime minister was quoted as saying.
A foreign man was arrested in Bangkok on August 29 over the blast at Erawan Shrine, which killed 20 people.
Bomb-making materials and 10 passports were found at the apartment in Nong Jok on the outskirts of Bangkok, police said.
Thai military authorities have been interrogating him, but they have not yet released his name or nationality.
It is unclear whether either of the two arrested men are the prime suspect, who seen on a security camera leaving a backpack at the crowded shrine shortly before the bombing on August 17.
On August 31, Thai police issued arrest warrants for two suspects – a 26-year-old Thai Muslim woman, Wanna Suansan, and an unnamed foreign man.
However, a woman who claims to be Wanna Suansan told a reporter she was living in Turkey and had last been in Thailand three months ago.
Speaking to AFP news agency by telephone, Wanna Suansan said she was living in the central Turkish city of Kayseri with her husband and that she was “shocked” to have been named as a suspect.
Police in Bangkok have found bomb-making materials in a second flat, after the arrest of a suspect in the explosion at the city’s Erawan Shrine.
Police spokesperson Prawut Thavornsiri said they had found “parts to make bombs and electric charges”.
Two new arrest warrants have also been issued, for a 26-year-old Thai woman and a foreign man.
The August 17 blast, which the government called the worst such attack in Thailand, killed 20 people.
Photo Reuters
On August 29, bomb materials were found in the home of an unnamed foreigner who was detained, police said.
The search of the second apartment in Bangkok’s Min Buri district at the weekend was prompted by information from the detained suspect, according to the Bangkok Post.
“We found fertilizer bags, watches, radio controls,” Prawut Thavornsiri said.
“These are bomb-making materials… nobody would keep urea fertilizer and gunpowder unless they wanted to make a bomb.”
In the suspect’s home on August 29, police said they had found detonators, ball bearings and a metal pipe they believed was intended to hold a bomb.
The detained man is not, however, the suspect seen in CCTV footage at the Erawan Shrine just before the explosion.
Thai police have charged a suspect, who was named on a fake Turkish passport as Adem Karadag, in connection with the bomb attack that killed 20 people in Bangkok about two weeks ago.
Officers say the suspect, who was charged with illegal possession of weapons, was involved in the attack.
However, they say he is not the man seen on CCTV footage leaving a bag at the Erawan Shrine before the explosion.
The bomb tore through the crowded shrine on August 17, injuring more than 100, mostly tourists.
The man, who was described as a 28-year-old foreigner by police, was arrested in Nong Jok on the outskirts of Bangkok on August 29.
Thai army chief General Udomdej Sitabutr said the man had so far not co-operated with investigators.
“We have to conduct further interrogations and make him better understand so he will be more co-operative – while we have to be careful not to violate the suspect’s rights,” he told the AFP news agency on August 30.
The man’s nationality has not been confirmed but local reports suggest he could be from Turkey. Police said they found a large number of forged Turkish passports at his apartment.
Bomb-making materials also discovered in the property included ball bearings and piping, similar to what was used in the shrine attack, police said.
Police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said the man “is a culprit in the same network” as those behind the blast.
However, national police chief Somyot Pumpanmuang downplayed any suggestion that the suspect was connected to terrorism.
“He is a foreigner, but it’s unlikely he is an international terrorist. It’s a personal feud,” Somyot Pumpanmuang told a televised news conference.
“He got angry on behalf of his friends and family members,” he added without elaborating.
Meanwhile, Thai police have faced criticism for an image of a suicide bomb vest that was shown on television during the national broadcast announcing the suspect’s arrest on August 29.
The image caused a stir on social media and police later said it had nothing to do with the bombing or the suspect. Thailand’s ruling military accused broadcast media of inserting the erroneous picture.
A reward of one million Thai baht ($28,000) has been offered for information related to the Erawan Shrine attack.
Police released a photofit of the man seen leaving a bag at the site shortly before the blast, showing the suspect with dark hair and glasses.
Officials said at the time of the attack that they suspected it had been planned a month or more in advance and involved at least 10 people.
Erawan shrine is a popular destination for Chinese and Thai tourists.
Thai police have arrested a man in connection with the Bangkok bomb attack that killed 20 people at Erawan Shrine nearly two weeks ago.
Officers raided an apartment used by the man in northern Bangkok on August 29 and found possible bomb-making materials, a police spokesman said.
The suspect “looks like the one we are looking for”, said the spokesman, Prawut Thavornsiri.
The bomb tore through Bangkok’s crowded Erawan Shrine on August 17.
Prawut Thawornsiri said that the arrested man is a foreigner but refused to say whether he is Turkish, as reported by some Bangkok media.
Police said at the time they suspected the attack had been planned a month or more in advance and involved at least 10 people, but said a connection to international terrorism was unlikely.
An arrest warrant was issued for one unidentified man seen on CCTV footage leaving a backpack at the shrine shortly before the blast, and a photofit image was released.
A reward of one million baht ($28,000) was offered for information but it is not known whether this played a part in today’s arrest.
Thailand’s Nation TV has apologized for re-enacting the Bangkok bomb attack at the Erawan shrine with a staff member dressed as the main suspect.
The re-enactment on August 20 sparked outrage among Thais at the Erawan shrine and online.
Executives at Nation TV have since acknowledged it was insensitive and disrespectful to the dead.
The bomb blast on August 17 killed 20 people and injured scores more. Police are hunting for the suspect.
Nation TV presenters read out an apology on television on Thursday night.
Photo Twitter
An evening news editor with Nation TV said in a statement posted online a team was sent out to re-enact the bombing at around 18:00 local time on August 20.
A member of staff was dressed up to look like the suspect, the statement said. The team stopped filming when people at the scene “expressed frustration” at them.
The president of Nation Broadcasting Corporation Adisak Limprungpatanakij said separately that the plan was made “without consideration for the sensitivity of the public and with disrespect for the dead”, AP reported.
He added that the station would consider disciplining those responsible.
The incident was the second controversy involving identification of the suspect in the days following the blast.
Australian actor Sunny Burns, who teaches English in Bangkok, was mistaken as the main suspect earlier this week after a Thai journalist pointed out that Burns resembled him.
Sunny Burns said he later found that private details including his home address were being spread online.
He went to the police to give a statement on August 20, and posted a picture of himself at the station “to share any evidence in case something went wrong”, he said.
Sunny Burns later posted CCTV video stills showing he was at his apartment building at the time of the blast.
Thai police have released a sketch of the suspect and say that he is a foreigner.
Two other men earlier identified as suspects in the bombing have since been cleared of involvement.
Thai police have cleared two men identified as suspects in the Bangkok bombing attack at the Erawan Shrine.
The two men, a Chinese tourist and his Thai guide, were filmed by security cameras standing near the prime suspect in August 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine, which killed 20 people.
A police spokesman said they were now satisfied the men were not involved.
The main suspect remains at large, but authorities said they believe he is still in Thailand.
Dozens of people were injured in Monday’s explosion, with some losing limbs.
Police had said that at least 10 people were suspected of involvement in the attack, and that their prime target was foreign.
The two former suspects were captured standing in front of the main suspect as he left his backpack under a bench at the scene.
The footage led police to believe the pair may have been the attacker’s accomplices.
One of the men “met police and was released”, according to police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri.
He told them he had taken the Chinese man to the Erawan shrine on behalf of a mutual friend.
Earlier reports suggested both of the men had presented themselves for questioning.
The Chinese national returned home a day after the bomb, Prawut Thavornsiri said.
Neither were “likely involved”, he added.
Earlier, Col. Winthai Suvaree, a spokesman for the ruling military junta, said the preliminary conclusion was that it was “unlikely” the attack was the work of an international terror group.
However, he later told Associated Press that a global terrorism link had not been ruled out, saying: “We still have to investigate in more detail.”
Police are also questioning a tuk-tuk taxi driver who drove the main suspect to the shrine, but are making slow progress in identifying the name and nationality of the man in yellow.
Twelve of the 20 dead in Monday’s attack were foreigners, including nationals from China, Hong Kong, the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
Thai police have released a sketch of the main suspect in the bomb attack that killed 20 people at Bangkok’s Erawan shrine on August 17.
According to Thailand’s chief of police, the attack was carried out by a “network”.
The man, dressed in a yellow T-shirt, was filmed by security cameras leaving a backpack at the shrine.
Erawan Hindu shrine, popular with tourists and Buddhists, reopened on August 19.
Thai police chief Somyot Poompanmoung told the Associated Press news agency on August 19 that the shrine attack was the work of more than one person.
“He didn’t do it alone for sure,” he said, referring to the main suspect.
“It’s a network,” he added, without giving further information.
Somyot Poompanmoung said he was certain that Thai citizens were involved in the bombing, but could not confirm if the bomber was a foreigner or a Thai citizen in disguise.
The prime minister has meanwhile urged the main suspect to surrender to the police because he might otherwise “get killed to stop him from talking”.
PM Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters the man must have been hired to plant the bomb.
The shrine reopened at about 08:00 local time, with a handful of people arriving to place flowers or light incense in front of the slightly damaged statue of the Hindu god Brahma.
Most of the victims of Monday’s attack were Thai, but nationals from China, Hong Kong, the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore were among the foreigners killed.
No-one has yet said they carried out the attack.
In a separate attack on August 18, an explosive device was thrown at a pier in Bangkok. No-one was hurt, but the authorities have not ruled out a link between the incidents.
Thai authorities have released a video footage showing the key suspect in the deadly bomb attack near Bangkok’s Erawan Shrine.
The footage, from a security camera, shows a man in a yellow shirt leaving a backpack in the Erawan Hindu shrine.
At least 20 people died in the attack on August 17. About half of the victims were foreigners.
More than other 120 people were injured in the attack.
In a separate attack on August 18, an explosive device was thrown at a pier in Bangkok, but no-one was hurt.
Nationals from China, Hong Kong, the UK, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore are among the foreigners killed in Monday’s attack.
Still images of the suspect had already been released.
In the new footage, he is shown carefully and deliberately removing his backpack inside the shrine, getting up without it and immediately leaving the scene.
“There is a suspect… we are looking for this guy,” PM Prayuth Chan-ocha told reporters.
Authorities were “quite close” to identifying the suspect, Thai government spokesman Maj. Gen. Weerachon Sukhontapatipak said.
However, other leads were also being pursued.
The spokesman said no motive was being ruled out, but that the bomber did not appear to be Thai and the character of the bombing was “quite different” from previous bombings by southern Thai insurgents.
He said security at transport hubs and tourist sites was being beefed up.
The bomb was detonated at about 19:00 local time on August 17 when the shrine, and the nearby Ratchaprasong junction, were crowded.
PM Prayuth Chan-ocha called it the “worst ever attack” on Thailand.
“There have been minor bombs or just noise, but this time they aim for innocent lives. They want to destroy our economy, our tourism.”
In Tuesday’s incident, a device – possibly a grenade – was reportedly thrown at the busy Sathorn pier in Bangkok.
It landed in water where it exploded harmlessly, but police said it could have caused many injuries.
Monday’s bomb was clearly placed to cause maximum casualties.
In currency trading, the Thai baht fell to its lowest level in six years over concerns about the impact on tourism.
National police chief Somyot Poompummuang described the device as a 6.6lb pipe bomb – an improvised device where explosive material is put in a sealed cavity to maximize the explosive impact.
Erawan shrine is dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, but is also visited by thousands of Buddhists each day.
At least 12 people have been killed and dozens injured in a bomb attack near a shrine in Thailand’s capital, Bangkok.
The attack took place close to the Erawan shrine in Bangkok’s central Chidlom district.
The shrine is a major tourist attraction. The Thai government said the attack was aimed at foreigners.
Local media report that tourists may be among the casualties.
Defense Minister Prawit Wongsuwong said: “It was a TNT bomb… the people who did it targeted foreigners and to damage tourism and the economy.”
The Nation TV channel quoted PM Prayuth Chan-ocha as saying the government would set up a “war room” to co-ordinate its response.
Photo EPA
The explosion occurred at about 19:00 local time. Some reports said the bomb had been on a motorcycle, others that it was tied to an electricity pole.
The shrine is to the Hindu god Brahma, but is also visited by thousands of Buddhists each day. There are also three major shopping centers nearby.
National police spokesman Lt Gen Prawut Thavornsiri told Agence France-Presse news agency: “I can confirm it was a bomb, we can’t tell which kind yet, we are checking.”
The explosion was on the Ratchaprasong intersection, which has been the center of political demonstrations in recent years.
Bomb attacks in Bangkok are extremely rare.
There has been a Muslim insurgency, but this has been largely confined to the south of the country and attacks rarely take place elsewhere.
However, Bangkok has seen a decade of sometimes violent rivalry between political factions.
The military took over ruling the country in May last year, removing an elected government following months of unrest.
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