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.
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