The suspected insurgents also detonated a bomb at the scene of the shooting in an attempt to harm officers responding to report of the shooting.
Pol Sergeant Anusorn Songsuwan, 32, of Munoh Police Station, was shot while riding a motorcycle on the Tak Bai-Sungai Kolok Road in Tambon Pasemas at around 10.30pm on Friday.
The bullet hit his left ankle but he continued riding to get help from rangers at a nearby checkpoint.
Thirty minutes later, rangers heard two explosions from the area where Anusorn was shot, so they went to inspect and seal off the area as safety precaution. It was suspected that a bomb was planted at a power pole near the scene of the shooting to harm officers investigating the attack on the officer.
Police suspected the shooting and bombing were part of ongoing unrest in the far South targeting security officers.
Police investigated the scene of the shooting yesterday morning and found that besides the bomb in a 20kg cooking gas that broke the power pole in half, the insurgents also threw spikes on the road 100 metres from the scene. They found that insurgents had hidden in roadside bushes to fire at the policeman with three M16 rifles – 60 spent cartridges were collected from the scene.
Police learned that the rifles were stolen from defence volunteers during a shooting attack in front of Luboh Lusong School on September 29, which killed a volunteer and injured two others.
Meanwhile, deputy permanent secretary for Justice Thawatchai Thaikhiew confirmed yesterday that the ministry was working on remedial measures for victims in the deep South, plus witness protection. They have also sent experienced prosecutors and judges to handle security cases while promoting a witness protection scheme, he said.
In regard to concern over human rights violations, the ministry had trained 3,400 military officers and police in the region about human rights and given them a handbook for implementing operations in the region, he said. Plus, the National Human Right Commission (NHRC) could check on all steps.
Thawatchai’s remarks came in response to comments previously by NHRC member Angkhana Neelapaijit that some rights violations by state officials who went unpunished could spur violence in the region, so state officials must exercise their authority carefully.