YALA: A delivery pickup truck stolen on Friday morning by a group of armed men for use as a car bomb was found parked behind a police station in Raman district and the bombs safely destroyed.
Baihakee Longluwa, a driver for Kerry Express, was carrying a parcel to a house in tambon Budee of Muang district when five armed men suddenly walked towards him and held him at gunpoint. They pushed him inside the house and tied his hands before stealing the pickup.
Mr Baihakee later freed himself and reported the incident to the Muang district police station, said Col Pol Kriattisak Neewong, spokesman for the Region 4 Forward Command of the Internal Security Operations Command (Isoc).
Police and soldiers were dispatched to intercept the stolen vehicle and found it parked behind the Raman police station, said Col Kriatisak.
The area was cordoned off and a team of explosive ordnance disposal officers was called to examine the vehicle. They found home-made bombs stuffed in two cooking gas cylinders placed below the driver’s seat.
Another home-made bomb stuffed in a bottle of a mosquito repellent was found in a garbage bin near the pickup. The bomb squad officers safely destroyed the explosives, said Col Kriatisak.
A bomb disposal officer shows a mosquito repellent canister containing a home-made bomb. It was found in a trash bin near a stolen pickup truck that also contained explosives. (Photo: Abdullah Benjakat)
Police examined security video and found that the stolen vehicle had driven past the Parameetae intersection in tambon Budee in Muang district at 9.25am on Friday, headed towards Raman. The vehicle was parked behind the Raman police station at 10.15am.
A black motorcycle was seen arriving in the area to pick up a man who had driven the stolen vehicle to park there.
In a related incident, an unknown number of suspects reportedly burned car tyres and stole surveillance cameras installed on power poles in Than To and Muang districts of the southern border province.
In Than To, a village defence team found burned tyres at two locations at 6.23am on Saturday. There was spray-painting at one location, and five closed-circuit TV cameras, three 4G devices and two WiFi devices were stolden.
In Muang district, burned car tyres were found on two roads. On suspicious object was also found on a road there.
A motorcycle is seen arriving to pick up a man who drove the stolen vehicle. (Capture from CCTV/Abdullah Benjakat)