Timber trader fatally shot, pickup burned

YALA: A man died after being shot and his pickup set ablaze in Bannang Sata district on Tuesday night in an attack which possibly followed a drug conflict, police said.

Pol Col Sayuti Katae, the Bannang Sata police chief, identified the man as Sulhafi Satimue, 36, a rubberwood trader at Moo 2 village in tambon Bannang Sata.

Samsiyah Mali, 34, Sulhafi's wife, told police that while her husband was about to leave his house in a four-door Mitsubishi pickup truck, two men came charging at him and one of them pulled out a pistol and fired several shots at him.

The two gunmen then went off in the pickup, which was later found to have been set ablaze on a road, about two kilometres from the house.

Sulhafi, who was seriously injured by gunshots, was admitted to Bannang Sata Hospital, where he was later pronounced dead.

Police recovered 14 cartridges of 9mm ammunition at the scene.

It was initially believed the fatal attack might have stemmed from a drug conflict, as Sulhafi had been involved in the drug trade, Pol Col Sayuti said.

An investigation was underway to establish the actual cause of death, he said.