Police Rule Out 'Man in Blue' Suspect in Samui Bombing

[Jacob Maslow]

Police have ruled out the “man in blue” suspect in the Samui bombing. The man was caught by security cameras, and police speculated that the man was the driver of the truck that exploded on Friday.

Somchai Nittayabowornkul, head of the investigation, met with the blue-shirt man on Tuesday and confirmed he was merely a local resident in the Koh Samui district. The blue-shirt man’s identity is being withheld.

Police released a photograph of the man from the security camera footage. Reportedly, the man contacted the investigators on Monday to declare his innocence.

DNA samples have been collected from three of the security guards at the shopping center, according to Mr. Somchai. The samples will be sent for testing, and police will ask the court for a warrant if the DNA matches evidence found at the bomb site. The three men were interrogated at a naval base on the island.

Now that the “man in blue” has been cleared, investigators have little to work with aside from the time when the pickup truck arrived. The truck, which was used in the bombing, had a license plate that was registered in the Yala province. The vehicle was seen boarding a ferry from Don Sak district on Friday morning. The explosion took place at approximately 10:30pm that evening.

Pol Gen Somyot Pumpanmuang, national police chief, said the police will need to have strong evidence to obtain an arrest warrant.

-- 2015-04-14

[huahinjoe]

Me thinks it was the "man in black" then... great work btw