Many suspects arrested for torching Betong-Bangkok bus

YALA, Jan 9 (TNA) -- Security authorities have arrested more than 20 people suspected of hijacking and torching a Betong-Bangkok bus last month and some of them confessed. Pol Lt Gen Ronasilp Phusara, commissioner of the Provincial Police Region 9, said that after the incident in Bannang Sata district, Yala province, on Dec 17, authorities arrested the first four suspects in nearby areas and information from them led to raids in Ban Ngo Kapo and Ban Bannang Kuwae villages in Bannang Sata district in the early morning of Jan 4. In the raids authorities arrested 20 more people suspected of being involved in the hijack and the arson. Pol Lt Gen Ronasilp said that information from the arrested suspects was useful and authorities learned that old and newly recruited insurgents took part in the violent attack. Some suspects confessed that southern insurgents were also attacking economic development projects in the Deep South. Many more suspects were at large, he said. A source said three suspects confessed to the crime and identified the masterminds as local insurgency leaders Abdullah Tapohtoh and Ahama Luebaesar. (TNA)