YALA - Police have seized a pickup truck, believed to have been stolen by militants to make a truck bomb, at a checkpoint in Bannang Sata district on Saturday.
At about 6.15pm, police manning a checkpoint in front of Batu Tamong police station in Bannang Sata signalled a black Mitsubishi pickup truck without a licence plate to stop for a search.
The vehicle's appearance matched the descriptions of the Mitsubishi pickup truck registered in Satun with the licence number Bor Ngor 7507 and stolen from in front of the Pimolchai market in Muang district of Yala late on Friday night.
The vehicle belonged to Veerayuth Detnoon.
The driver did not stop and instead sped away, prompting the police to give chase along Highway 410 between Batu Tamong and Kasot.
The driver abandoned the vehicle in front of a mosque of Kasot village, about 5km from the checkpoint, and escaped.
Police checked the vehicle and found it to be the one stolen from Yala's Muang district on Friday night. It was believed to have been stolen by militants to turn it into a truck bomb.