Police sketch of Bangkok bombing prime suspect; CCTV shows two possible accomplices

Thai police: Bangkok bomber linked to ‘network’ of plotters
By Brian Murphy 

August 19 at 7:42 AM

The Washington Post

Police in Thailand broadened their hunt Wednesday for the suspected Bangkok bomber, issuing a police sketch of the man sought in a huge manhunt and suggested he was part of a wider network.

The police drawing offered the clearest image of the suspect — previously identified through grainy close-ups taken from surveillance camera video shortly before Monday’s attack in the heart of Bangkok’s tourist and shopping district that left 20 people dead and more than 120 injured.

The sketch showed a young man in glasses with bushy, dark hair that is cut shorter on the sides. The picture was also partly based on a description provided by a motorcycle taxi driver, who believed he gave the suspect a ride on the night of the blast.

Police said the suspect’s possible background was unclear. The arrest warrant described him as a “foreign man,” but the police spokesman, Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri, said the suspect could be of “mixed origin.”

Authorities also left open the theory he disguised his appearance before the bombing.

Meanwhile, the police chief, Somyot Poompanmoung, indicated that the probe was looking for links to other plotters.

“He didn’t do it alone, for sure. It’s a network,” Somyot said.

Officials offered few details. The police spokesman Prawut said the security footage appeared to show two possible accomplices.

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See also these reports posted today

CNN: Thai police say suspect in Bangkok Erawan shrine bombing had accomplices

Bangkok bombing: "We have suspects. There are not many people."

Reuters:  Thai police hunt 'foreign' man, two others for Bangkok blast

Police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri also said investigators were now convinced two other men seen on the grainy video footage were accomplices. ... He said two other men, one dressed in red and another in white, were seen milling around the first suspect, apparently shielding him from the view of the crowd as he placed the rucksack in front of a railing.

From the above passage in the Reuters report, posted 8:27am EDT, there is still disagreement in the accounts about whether the suspect placed the backpack next to a railing or under a bench. Maybe the tiebreaker is that he placed the pack under the bench next to the railing?

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