THE SUPERINTENDENT of Joh I Rong Police Station in Narathiwat province has been given a snap transfer in the wake of Sunday’s storming by insurgents of a hospital in his precinct.

“He will be based at the Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre for 30 days,” national police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda said yesterday.

Pol Colonel Prawit Chorseng, however, said at the time of going to press that he has not been officially informed about the transfer.

No casualties resulted from the attack on the hospital in the southern border province, as the heavily-armed raiders apparently planned to use it as a base to launch an offensive on a nearby military camp.

However, it drew widespread public condemnation.

“Hospitals, medical units and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian laws, and they should not be targeted or used for military purposes at any time,” the UN Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia said in a statement yesterday.

Colonel Yuttanam Petchmuang, deputy spokesman for the Internal Security Operations Command Area 4’s Forward Command, said that based on evidence gathered so far, a suspect was taken to a military base for interrogation.

The suspect was identified by a source as Muhammad Koyri Malee.

“He was arrested in a small village on the border between Joh I Rong and Ra-Ngae districts,” the source said. Mahama Sorbeu Rikruesa, a suspected leader of the armed RKK, was believed to have been hiding in the village but escaped before rangers could surround the targeted house, the source said.

Rangers have continued to scour areas in the Tawe mountain range, where the militants might have retreated, the source said.

Police chief Chakthip said there was solid evidence against the rebels who raided the Joh I Rong Hospital because their operations were recorded by the surveillance system.

“We will bring the perpetrators to justice,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said the recent break-in at the hospital would not derail the ongoing peace process.

“The talks are for mutual understanding, not for negotiating anyway,” he said.

The peace talks were initiated as a way to end the unrest in the deep South. In over a decade, the violence has left thousands dead.

Prawit said he had assigned General Chalermchai Sitthisad, an assistant Army chief, to look specifically into the hospital raid.

“After that I will comment on the case,” he said.