Four M'sians among eight held over Bangkok shrine blast
Police have arrested eight suspects, including four Malaysians, in connection with last month's deadly bomb blast at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police Noor Rashid Ibrahim said the latest to be arrested were four men in Kuala Lumpur and Kelantan several days ago.
"The eight are in their 30s and the Malaysians are believed to be human traffickers who smuggled foreigners into the country," he said at a press conference on Wednesday (Sept 23).
The cops have notified their Thai counterpart of the arrests and are waiting for verification from them.
"So far we have not tied these suspects to the bombing but the matter is still under investigation," he said.
Mr Noor Rashid said the foreigners’ passports are being checked to see if they were forged.
'We don't tolerate terrorists'
He denied that Malaysia was a transit point for terrorists in the region.
"They try to come here because Malaysia is in a strategic location but we do not tolerate terrorists," he said.
A source told The Star that one of the suspects was nabbed after police raided a budget hotel in Bukit Bintang on Saturday (Sept 19).
"The authorities believe he was smuggled into the country with the help of a Malaysian-run human trafficking syndicate," said the source.
The bomb blast on Aug 17 killed 20 people and injured 125 others.
Source: The Star Online
Get The New Paper on your phone with the free TNP app. Download from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store now