SOUTHERN VIOLENCE
A doctor told the Narathiwat court yesterday that an insurgent suspect who died in military custody in March, Imam Yapa Kaseng, had been beaten with hard objects.
The 56-year-old imam had been arrested and detained on March 19. He was found dead on March 21 when relatives came to visit him at the 39th Special Taskforce Unit at Wat Suan Tham in Rueso district.
His death sparked public outrage and drew the attention of the Asian Human Rights Commission.
Dr Suphawit Pakdichoke, of Rueso district hospital, said he performed an autopsy on the body. Inconsistent wounds showed the victim was physically abused several times.
His wounds were said to be caused by hard objects. Many ribs were broken and the broken ribs pierced the lungs. There were also many shallow bruises across the body.
The dead man's wife, Nima Kaseng, told the court that Mr Yapa was physically sound on the day he was arrested. He did not have any bruises or broken ribs.
Maj Wichart Phuthong, who was acting deputy chief of the task force unit, said he saw several suspects arrested on March 19 and none were injured.
Maj Wichart said his assignment in the South was due to end in September, but he had been abruptly transferred to Petchabun. He had not been the subject of any disciplinary inquiry over the imam's death, he said.
The court adjourned, scheduling the next hearings for August and September.
Narathiwat authorities yesterday arrested two suspects in the fatal June 21 attack on the Sungai Kolok-Yala train in Narathiwat. Four other suspects remain at large.
Officials sealed off Gujingruepo village in Rangae district and searched five locations where the six suspects lived.
Aman Laboh and Masohi Jeh-uma were rounded up with 7kg of metal spikes in their possession.
Mr Masohi owns a mobile phone left at the scene of the attack, where gunmen posing as passengers shot dead four members of staff and injured a railway policeman on the train.
The four other wanted men are: Harem Janeh, Amran Ming, Asueming Samae and Mr Masohi's elder brother, Duerapa.
Authorities asked the parents of all six suspects for DNA and collected other evidence. The DNA will be tested against evidence collected at the scene, including blood and footprints.
In Muang district, three people were arrested after they tested positive for explosive residue. They were at a tea shop only 100m from where a teacher escort team narrowly escaped a bomb attack. Their mobile phones were seized.
In nearby Bacho, Yi-ngo, Si Sakhon and Muang districts, four people were arrested for possession of marijuana and a drug cocktail known as 4x100 formula.
In Pattani's Panare district, Pvt Nugul Puenphakwan received serious shrapnel wounds when a teacher escort team on motorcycles was attacked by a roadside bomb on Panare-Namboh road.
In Raman district of Yala, a drive-by gunman killed Abdulroning So, 46, a member of panel overseeing police administration, as he was heading to a tea shop. BANGKOK POST AND TNA
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