POLICE YESTERDAY sought an arrest warrant for a suspect from the southernmost province of Narathiwat, claiming a suspicious link between the spate of bomb attacks in Prachuap Khiri Khan and six southern provinces and the ongoing insurgency in the predominantly Muslim deep South.

Former National Security Council chief Lt-General Paradorn Pattanathabutr warned yesterday that the government should not rule out the possibility that the separatist Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) movement played a role in the recent bomb and arson attacks.

The string of attacks rocked seven provinces, mainly tourist destinations such as Phuket, Koh Samui and Hua Hin. The attacks claimed four lives and injured more than 30 others, including foreign tourists.

Many foreign analysts have suggested that the insurgents in the deep South might have expanded their operations to areas outside their traditional territory, but the government has maintained an official line that the incidents were “domestic sabotage” motivated by the August 7 draft charter referendum.

Paradorn, however, said he is confident about his theory due to the depth of his involvement in addressing the insurgency in the South. He formerly led a government delegation in peace talks with the BRN in 2013.

“I felt something was wrong when Malaysia decided to seal its border before the attacks. The telephone signals used in detonating the bombs came from Malaysia,” he said.

He said he believed the BRN launched the attacks in retaliation for the government’s failure to proceed with peace talks.

One of three suspects in the attacks has been identified as Ahama Lengha from Narathiwat’s Tak Bai district, who is suspected of planting a bomb in Phuket’s popular Patong beach last Wednesday.

Deputy police chief Pol General Sriwara Rangsiphrammanakul said evidence gathered from the scene and presented to Nakhon Si Thammarat Military Court showed DNA that matched that on file in Ahama’s criminal record in Narathiwat.

Ahama has reportedly been involved in many attacks in Tak Bai district and would be key to leading investigators to the mastermind behind the attacks, Sriwara said.

Pol Maj-General Apichat Bunsiriroj, commander of Surat Thani Provincial Police, said surveillance cameras had recorded images of two other suspects planting bombs in the province on Thursday. Their identities were not released as of press time yesterday.

In the case of Chiang Mai resident Sakharin Karuehas, who was detained for allegedly setting a department store in Nakhon Si Thammarat on fire, Sriwara said police had sought his arrest based on the available evidence.

It is widely believed that Sakharin, who works at an oil rig in the Gulf of Thailand, was wrongly arrested because his image was captured on a closed-circuit camera. He is currently being detained under the absolute power granted by the interim charter’s Article 44 as authorities consider releasing him.

Prayut, Najib “did not discuss issue”

Sriwara said the suspect would be handed over to police after a seven-day period, which would allow officials to consider releasing him on bail.

National police chief Pol General Chakthip Chaijinda said police were working to identify other suspects who he said were still hiding in the Kingdom.

“We want to catch them all, but it still relies on the evidence we have against them. We are working against time, but this task cannot be rushed and we have to investigate very carefully,” he said.

Many points in the cases were very clear and investigators would see the big picture very soon, he added.

“Judging from what I saw while inspecting the site in Hua Hin on Monday, the investigation team is working very hard and the job is nearly 70-per-cent complete,” he said.

Chakthip said comments about the BRN‘s role were just speculation and everybody would know who was behind the attack after the truth was disclosed.

The government has been struggling since last week to identify who was behind the attacks and their motives.

Senior government officials said earlier that Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha would raise the issue with his Malaysian counterpart Najib Razak during a summit in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

However, the premier’s secretary-general General Wilas Arunsri, who accompanied Prayut in the trip, said the premier only attended a two-hour discussion forum and did not speak personally to Najib or other attending leaders. Prayut also refused to talk to reporters upon his return from Malaysia.

Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia’s Foreign Ministry was the latest to issue a statement yesterday condemning the attacks. In the statement, it expressed sympathy for the Kingdom and extended condolences to the families of the victims.