These five detainees were among dozens of people rounded up in Bangkok-based security operations last week.
“We have convincing evidence that they must have had some crucial information about security affairs, not just in the three southern border provinces but also in the centre of the country,” NCPO spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvaree said yesterday.
However, he said at this stage, security officials had not found evidence that the five detainees were engaged in security-related offences.
“We are asking for cooperation and information,” he said.
Earlier this month, Deputy National Police Commissioner Srivara Ransibrahmanakul issued a warning about car-bomb attacks that intelligence reports suggested might occur in Bangkok or its outskirts late this month.
According to wartani.com, security officials arrested about 40 suspects in the Ramkhamhaeng area in Bangkok between last Monday and Friday to thwart sabotage plots ahead of the upcoming anniversary of the Tak Bai incident.
On October 25, 2004, dozens of Muslim men suffocated or were crushed to death while being transported in overcrowded Army trucks after being arrested for protesting in the Narathiwat district.
In a related development, police searched an apartment in Samut Prakan province, arrested a suspect, and confiscated four suspicious boxes yesterday.
“We suspect that these boxes might have contained precursor chemicals for bomb-making,” a source close to the investigation said.
Police have searched and detained several suspects since Srivara went public about the bomb threats.