Security officers have arrested a man accused of killing the Rueso deputy police chief.
Isma-ae Useng, who was wanted under a warrant, was arrested in a raid on his house in Yala's Muang district early Sunday, and taken to Narathiwat Special Taskforce for questioning.
Investigators believe Isma-ae was involved in a bomb attack on a vehicle carrying three police in Narathiwat's Rueso district on March 15.
The bomb exploded as the car was about to cross a canal at Ban Prali Moo 10.
The impact of the blast tore through the car and threw it into the canal.
All three officers - Rueso deputy police chief Pol Lt Col Chakkrit Wongphrommet, 48, his driver Pol Sgt Piya Phuphanwoe, 34, and Pol Cpl Suwet Chantharangsi, 30 - were killed.
An inspection of the scene found the improvised bomb was hidden in a 90kg gas container and placed near the bridge approach.
An employee of Tabing Tambon Administration Organisation (TAO) was shot dead during prayers at a mosque in Pattani's Sai Buri district on Saturday. Mahamayunan Dueramae, 32, was performing prayers on the balcony of the building when he was shot, police said.
Two men entered the mosque and opened fire at Mahamayunan.
The gunmen then ordered other Muslims to crouch as they approached the victim's body and shot him again in the head. Some fled the mosque in panic. The men made off with the man's pistol.
Investigators are inspecting bullets found at the mosque to trace where the attackers acquired the guns.
They believe the guns are of the .38-calibre type.
In Khok Pho district, a woman was killed and another wounded in a drive-by attack on local road No 42, police said.
The victims were shot by two men on a motorcycle as they were travelling home on their own motorcycle.
Amphon Thawisuwan, 42, was shot in the head while Sompong Phromraksa, 44, sustained a head injury and is being treated at a hospital.
Meanwhile, Pattani police chief Pol Maj Gen Ekkaphop Prasitwatthanachai yesterday told officers to file reports on their probes into suspected insurgency-related cases in the province every three days.
The major cases include the shooting of the Khok Pho TAO head, Chai Khaothong, on April 19.
Officers believe the attack resulted from a personal conflict because Chai was a suspect in the shooting of the head of the Lamphlai TAO in Songkhla's Thepha district.
However, they have not ruled out an insurgency attack as another possible cause.