Malaysia arrests 8 suspects helping to smuggle Bangkok bomb suspects to Malaysia

[webfact]

Malaysia arrests eight suspects helping to smuggle bomb suspects to Malaysia



BANGKOK: -- Malaysian police have arrested eight suspects they believed help to smuggle Bangkok bomb suspects into the country. Some of these suspects might have connection with the deadly bomb explosion in Bangkok that killed 20 people and injured 120 others on August 17.

According to Channel News Asia website today, the eight suspects arrested so far included four Malaysians.

They were arrested in suspicion of helping smuggle the bomb suspects leave Thailand after the August deadly bomb blast.

Channel News Asia reported today that Malaysian police announced thus morning that they have arrested eight people so far, some believed to be Uighurs, who they suspect have links to Aug 17’s grenade blasts in Bangkok.

In the press conference in Kuala Lumpur, Deputy Inspector General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim told media of the eight, four were Malaysians suspected of bringing in foreign nationals from Thailand who were possibly connected to blasts into the country.

The eight includes two Malaysians and one Pakistani arrested earlier in September. “So far we have arrested eight people,” said Mr Noor Rashid.

“Four of them are foreign nationals, and the locals who were arrested were involved in ‘human trafficking’ brought these foreign nationals from Thailand into the country.”

He added: “Four of the eight are foreigners – I believe Uighurs – and they have been detained, but we haven’t been able to verify if they’re linked to the events in Thailand, as there hasn’t been any confession.

“So we’re detaining them and Thai authorities also know about the arrests to help them further their investigations.” Mr Noor Rashid said so far there was “no concrete evidence” to show the suspects’ direct involvement with the Bangkok blast.

Police say they are working closely with the Thai police on investigations. Channel NewsAsia understands Thai and Malaysian police met on Tuesday to discuss the investigation.

The Aug 17 blast in Bangkok ripped through a Hindu shrine near the busy Ratchaprasong intersection, killing 20 people and wounding more than 100. Fourteen foreigners were among those killed.

Source: http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/malaysia-arrests-eight-suspects-helping-to-smuggle-bomb-suspects-to-malaysia


-- Thai PBS 2015-09-23

[DLock]

Somyot...is it worth a trip down there yet?

...or should we just let them go because you're not that interested?

[lkv]

Somyot...is it worth a trip down there yet?

...or should we just let them go because you're not that interested?

It's probably not worth the trip it's not like the Thai police has any jurisdiction on Malaysian soil or they can interrogate them or ask them to sign forced confessions or anything. It's in the hands of Malaysian police and if any credible suspicions they can share the info with their counterparts and further action can be taken from there. To this point it says there is no real evidence linking those to Erawan.

[Traveller45]

I like Malaysia officials. They mean business. I have seen them at "work" with Somali thieves during "Restore hope". No cash handed over there. a) it's not in their tradition, it's too goddamn dangerous if caught and c) they are paid OK to begin with (and perhaps d) they are intrinsically modest, that also helps). But there's something else there, there is the "love of work well done", it's not something you can put a price tag on

[Marvo]

Maybe the Malaysian police will allow the BiB to "observe" selective areas of the investigation

[MrBrilliant]

The Malaysian police have done more on this case in three or four days than their Thai counterparts have done in about a month.

[Pib]

Glad they are arresting these type of people, but don't try to peg each one specifically to the Bangkok bombing. Sometimes I think they are trying to arrest as many people as they can just to mask the point they have not caught the primary suspect yet.

[maidee]

taught they came in from the north, but now it's from the south ?

[Oziex1]

If we are to believe the authorities (and I do not) This seems to be a large network or at least they have access to international help when required.

If it is of a significant size and has the required logistic support to carry on as they allegedly are, the question is who are they and what do they want.

How are they flying under the radar in a world so paranoid of terrorism.

Can the Thai authorities answer these questions, I think not.

[Oziex1]

I like Malaysia officials. They mean business. I have seen them at "work" with Somali thieves during "Restore hope". No cash handed over there. a) it's not in their tradition, it's too goddamn dangerous if caught and c) they are paid OK to begin with (and perhaps d) they are intrinsically modest, that also helps). But there's something else there, there is the "love of work well done", it's not something you can put a price tag on

Hmm not sure, the Malaysian PM is being evasive about a mysterious 700 Mill that turned up in his bank account and Malaysia's finest have a wrap sheet on par with the RTP.

[NextStationBangkok]

This is good news indeed. I hope Thai Police is in touch with them to get details, or extradite to Thailand for further charges.

Seems that Thai Police only busy in releasing the suspect sketches and making action movie in front of Central World!

Sounds like they are making big Hollywood Movie than nabbing the criminals.

[glasswort]

Amazing. Arrest enough people and you may get lucky and find the real culprit. In this case most unlikely.

[Jim walker]

good news hat some real police are now working on the case without their hands outstretched for money.

[cookee68]

still no yellow shirt terrorist in custody yet, why don't the Thai RTP give the reward money to the Malaysian RTP,

[The Deerhunter]

Interesting. Either they are understating what they know or there isn't much to know at this stage. Let's not get too excited yet! Let us hope it is the right ones. It would be nice to get some closure on this outrage.

[Jonathan Fairfield]

[webfact]

Malaysia detains 8 suspects for questioning about Thai blast

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) — Eight people, including four believed to be ethnic Uighurs, have been detained in Malaysia for questioning in connection with last month's bombing of a shrine in Bangkok that killed 20 people, a senior official said Wednesday.

National deputy police chief Noor Rashid Ibrahim said they were detained in the past week in Kuala Lumpur as well as in northeastern Kelantan state.

Four of the eight were Malaysians involved in human trafficking, while another four were believed to be Uighur (pronounced WEE-gurs) men who entered the country illegally, he said. While there is no evidence they were directly involved in the bombing they are being investigated to see if they had any role in other activities surrounding the blast.

"Right now, there is no concrete evidence to show that they are directly involved," Noor Rashid told reporters.

He said Thai police have been notified, and he hopes they can aid in identifying the men. Thailand will need to provide basic proof of their involvement in the bombing if it wants to extradite the suspects, he said.

Noor Rashid initially said the Uighurs had no documents on them and that their only offence was entering Malaysia illegally from Thailand. However, he later said they had passports but it was unclear if they were genuine. He didn't give further details.

The Aug. 17 blast at the Erawan Shrine in the Thai capital also injured more than 120. Many of the victims were foreigners as the shrine is a popular destination for tourists and Thais alike.

In Bangkok, Thai Police Chief Somyot Poompanmoung said he has not received any confirmation from the Malaysian police that the suspects were involved in the blast.

Thai authorities have arrested 2 suspects they say were linked to the bombing, but believe the actual bomber and the mastermind of the plot have fled the country.

Thailand has suggested that those behind the blast may have been from a gang involved in smuggling Uighurs from the Chinese region of Xinjiang, while others speculate they may be separatists or Islamist extremists angry that Thailand repatriated more than 100 Uighurs to China in July.

Uighurs complain of oppression by the Chinese government, and some advocate turning Xinjiang into a separate Uighur state.

-- (c) Associated Press 2015-09-23

[ALLSEEINGEYE]

i would not be surprised if the yellow shirt guy is never found (alive at least). As he was the only face of this in the beginning, his own team may have disposed of him to help cover their tracks. Time will tell though.

[Jimbo2014]

Errr... uncomfortable question but does this mean the Malaysian policy are due a cool 3 million baht or is that already spend on wine, women and song?

[outsider]

I like Malaysia officials. They mean business. I have seen them at "work" with Somali thieves during "Restore hope". No cash handed over there. a) it's not in their tradition, it's too goddamn dangerous if caught and c) they are paid OK to begin with (and perhaps d) they are intrinsically modest, that also helps). But there's something else there, there is the "love of work well done", it's not something you can put a price tag on

Hmm not sure, the Malaysian PM is being evasive about a mysterious 700 Mill that turned up in his bank account and Malaysia's finest have a wrap sheet on par with the RTP.

Traveller45 - I'm not sure where you got your information from. But to your point that 'no cash was handed over' because 'it's not in their tradition', you couldn't be further from the truth. They may not be as rotten-to-the-core as the brown clowns here, but trust me, some notes do change hands, and then some! And on the subject of 'tradition', a senior politician who got caught red-handed with his umm... hand... in the cookie jar (a large one)... just got a reduced sentence to do community service, when he should be behind bars. Then there are comments by Oziex1 above to think about. And the police in Malaysia are NOT PAID OK! Their salary is just above the poverty line. Or something like that. And there is nothing about modesty. As I mentioned, they may be better, more professional, more efficient, get better results la di da - I'll give them that - and I can say that for high-profile cases, the Malaysian police does do their job rather well, compared with the bumbling brown clowns here, but they're still a long way away from being the benchmark.

Tell you what - pass me some of what you're smoking/drinking or both, will ya?

[flyingdoc]

Let's wait! At least this sounds professional !

[Brer Fox]

The Thai and Malaysian police do work together for the common cause. Back in May the Thai police handed over to Malaysian police 25 luxury cars which had been stolen from Malaysia and driven across the border into Thailand. They handed over the keys in a bang-up ceremony/soiree at the 23rd annual meeting of Thai and Malaysian police at the Westin Siray Bay Resort and Spa Hotel in Phuket. I expect the Thai police are now waiting for the 24th annual meeting next May when the Malaysian police can hand over accumulated bomb suspects at a reciprocal function at some luxury resort in Malaysia.

[hawksway]

Looks like a Thai Police show without the theatricals of getting the suspects to re-enact the alleged crime!

[anto]

Well done RTP in getting some action from the slothful Malays .They usually spend there time looking for unmarried people having sex and arresting them.

Edited September 23, 2015 by anto

[louse1953]

I like Malaysia officials. They mean business. I have seen them at "work" with Somali thieves during "Restore hope". No cash handed over there. a) it's not in their tradition, it's too goddamn dangerous if caught and c) they are paid OK to begin with (and perhaps d) they are intrinsically modest, that also helps). But there's something else there, there is the "love of work well done", it's not something you can put a price tag on

You should ask the Malaysian PM about that.

[tonray]

I like Malaysia officials. They mean business. I have seen them at "work" with Somali thieves during "Restore hope". No cash handed over there. a) it's not in their tradition, it's too goddamn dangerous if caught and c) they are paid OK to begin with (and perhaps d) they are intrinsically modest, that also helps). But there's something else there, there is the "love of work well done", it's not something you can put a price tag on

Having lived in Malaysia for quite some time...they are as corrupt as can be...and better connected as the main institutions are protected by the Malay Muslim majority. They have some token Indian (mainkly Sikh) and Chinese captains to appease the community base but overall the police are not clean there at all.

Edited September 23, 2015 by tonray

[MrBrad]

Just how many times do the authorities have to pretend that they have arrested the chief suspect(s) in the bombing case? It seems that every day or so since the bombing they announce that the lead suspect has been captured here, there, or somewhere else.

Either they're just buffaloing us, thinking we have no memory of what they said yesterday, or they don't know what they're doing. If it's the latter, I'd think they'd be better off just shutting up until they have a solid lead. They're really looking like the Keystone cops in this whole mess.

[silent]

Just how many times do the authorities have to pretend that they have arrested the chief suspect(s) in the bombing case? It seems that every day or so since the bombing they announce that the lead suspect has been captured here, there, or somewhere else.

Either they're just buffaloing us, thinking we have no memory of what they said yesterday, or they don't know what they're doing. If it's the latter, I'd think they'd be better off just shutting up until they have a solid lead. They're really looking like the Keystone cops in this whole mess.

Ever hear of the movie Groundhog Day? You're living it.

[ChrisY1]

The initial reluctance of the RTP to venture to Malaysia to check on the arrested people made me wonder if they really wanted the culprit...or was it that it could have been a face saving reluctance....just in case the guy is the one?

Anyway......the reward's been paid out already for the outstanding detective work done in the week after the blast.....albeit, no bomber!

[biplanebluey]

Pretty dam good SKETCH !!!!!