CAPTURED! Prime suspect in Bangkok Erawan Shrine bombing nabbed in Cambodia

Got 'im!  

Authorities escort a man arrested yesterday who is suspected to be the prime suspect in the Aug 17 bombing of the Erawan shrine. 

Smile for the camera!  

Photo:  The Bangkok Post

Erawan bombing suspect arrested in Cambodia 
1 Sep 2015 at 16:20 [local time]
WRITER: WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM 
The Bangkok Post

A foreigner suspected of involvement in last month’s bombing of the Erawan shrine in Bangkok was arrested in Cambodia and handed over to Thai authorities Tuesday, a police source said. 

An informed source in the police investigative team said Cambodian police captured the suspect on Monday and arranged today's handover at the border in the Cambodian border town of Poipet in Banteay Meanchey province, opposite Sa Kaeo's Aranyaprathet district. 

He was detained for preliminary investigations at a military camp in Aranyaprathet before Bangkok for further interrogations, the source added. 

The source refused to state where the man was arrested in Cambodia and said he was identified only as "Yusufu". 

Thai media today widely published a photo of a Chinese passport of a man matching the suspect's description. In the passport, he is identified as Yusufu Mieraili, 25, from Xinjiang province. 

Xinjiang is the home province for China's Uighur Muslim minority. 

The suspect was believed to be on his way from Thailand to Phnom Penh when he was captured, according to the source. The source said a senior police officer went to Cambodia to coordinate with authorities there after it had been confirmed the suspect fled Thailand to Cambodia. 

Assistant national police chief Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda is leading the investigation on the case. 

Earlier, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the man was a "main suspect" in the Aug. 17 bombing at the Ratchaprasong intersection shrine that killed 20 and injured 131. 

He is believed to the person seen in CCTV footage wearing a yellow shirt and leaving a backpack behind at the shrine. 

Authorities plan to hold a press conference after 5pm to release more details about the arrest of the subject, who was being flown by helicopter back to Bangkok today. 

[END REPORT]

See also Bangkok Bombing: 24 Officers ‘Transferred’ for Misconduct; Khaosod English, September 1, 2015

*******