Narathiwat police deputy chief Colonel Rathboworn Bamrungros said yesterday that the 20 sympathisers were divided into three teams.

He said the members of one team were disguised as soldiers at a phoney checkpoint in Sukhirin, where they stole a Toyota pickup for use in the attack.

He said members of another team were dressed like construction workers and they sat in the back of the pickup and opened fire at the police station, while the final team drove the shooters. DNA samples and fingerprints were collected from the pickup, found abandoned at a rubber plantation in tambon Tanyong Limo, Rangae, on Thursday night, the colonel said.

The investigation would focus on persons wanted for the fatal shooting of Tambon Romthai Administrative Organisation secretary Boonlert Jindathananant on December 29, 2015, as police believed the same group was involved in both attacks.

Fourth Army Region deputy chief Maj-General Kuakul Innajak, meanwhile, inspected Rangae police station yesterday and received a report on the investigation’s progress.

Kuakula praised the bravery of Pol Corporal Pulsawat Sathien-udon, who returned fire at the assailants, and said the officer should be promoted.

Kuakul also visited three of the wounded – Staff Sergeant Ekkawit Thongbutr at Rangae Hospital and Sgt-Major Theerapong Kaewchamnan and Corporal Pongsathorn Kaewprasert at Naradhiwas Rajanagarindra Hospital. On Thursday morning, six attackers riding in the back of the pickup opened fire at the police station when police were standing in line in front of the station to hear a policy address from Rangae police superintendent Colonel Surapong Chatsut. Corporal Supaksorn Sayukhongthon, 30, was pronounced dead at hospital.

Surapong received a superficial ear wound, while Corporal Pichit Thongros was treated at Southern Border Provinces Police Operation Centre’s hospital.

Meanwhile, national security officers in the southern border province of Pattani have implemented stricter controls in setting up checkpoints to look for stolen vehicles in a bid to prevent attacks by insurgents.