Bang Sue police have detained rapper Thanayuth "Book" Na Ayutthaya, also known as Eleven Finger, for allegedly throwing two homemade explosives over the gates of the 1st Infantry Regiment on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road in Bangkok, which houses the residence of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha.
His arrest was announced by Krisadang Nutcharat, a lawyer with the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (THLR) group yesterday.
Thanayuth, who is also a pro-democract activist, was detained by Bang Sue police after their investigation linked him to the incident on Sunday, when two "ping-pong" bombs were thrown over the compound's gates, Mr Krisadang said.
Police searched his house and arrested him for possessing improvised explosive devices. Thanayuth, however, denies the charges against him, the lawyer said. No further details were available.
According to the police, on Sunday evening, four men on two motorcycles were seen tossing the ping-pong bombs over the gates of the 1st Infantry Regiment compound. The explosives went off, but no one was injured by the blast.
As an Explosive Ordnance Disposal team gathered evidence, Bang Sue police looked into security footage around the scene, which showed the two pairs of suspects driving by the regiment and throwing the two ping-pong bombs over the compound's gated entrance. They fled the scene shortly afterwards.
Government spokesman Thanakorn Wangboonkongchana said yesterday that Prime Minister Prayut was notified about the incident.
"The prime minister has no comment and legal prosecution will proceed as usual," he said.