Detained suspect admits planting deadly bomb in Bangkok

BANGKOK, September 24 (TNA) - A detained foreign suspect, identified as Adem Karadag and also known as Bilal Muhammad, has confessed to Thai authorities during an investigation that he was the yellow-shirt man planting a bomb at Ratchaprasong Intersection in central Bangkok last month, which killed 20 victims and wounded some 130 others, most of whom are foreigners. Police sources said on Thursday morning that Karadag, who has been proved to have Turkish nationality and detained at the 11th Army Circle in Bangkok's adjacent Nakhon Pathom Province, have already admitted to be the bomber, after the Thai investigative authorities asked him to wear a wig and black sunglasses as shown on close-circuit televisions (CCTVs) installed at the scene of the incident. Karadag then reportedly admitted that he was the bomber in front of the Erawan Shrine at the Ratchaprasong Intersection on August 17. The Turkish man was apprehended on August 29 at an apartment on the outskirts of the capital, where Thai police also found bomb-making materials and hundreds of fake passports inside his apartment room. Meanwhile, Royal Thai Police Spokesman Police Lieutenant General Prawut Thawornsiri told journalists that Bangkok's Min Buri court has approved an arrest warrant against another foreign man, aged about 30, on charges of illegally possessing explosive materials in connection with the deadly blast on August 17. According to the spokesman, the unidentified man, as shown on CCTVs and a sketch from witnesses, bought explosive materials from a shop in Sukhumvit Soi 44 in the capital and visited two apartments where two suspects were arrested, including Karadag. So far, the court has approved arrest warrants against 15 suspects, two of whom have already been arrested and detained by Thai police. (TNA)