NEW DELHI: Two Indians were detained on Monday for questioning by police in relation to Thailand’s deadliest bombing at a shrine for Erawan (Brahma) in Bangkok in August, which left 20 people dead.
Both of them were taken to a military camp for questioning from their residence at Maimuna Garden in eastern Bangkok at 9 pm on Sunday. They were taken in by a team of 20 Thai policemen and soldiers.
According to sources, both are long-term residents of Thailand with valid work visas. However, their identity has not been disclosed. In the apartment complex’s CCTV footage, the Indians were seen talking to bomb blast suspect Yusufu Mieraili several times. Thai police had raided the complex on September 2 and found bomb-making materials in a room rented by Thai Muslim woman Wanna Suasan, who had left for Turkey with her husband six weeks before the bombing. The Indians were staying in the room next to the Suasan’s.
Diplomatic sources said that the police were not treating them as suspects, but as witnesses. “They are being questioned to corroborate the evidence, if they had seen any conversation between the accused,” a source said. They were likely to be released after “signing a statement”.
Since both had not been arrested, police had not informed the Indian embassy — which came to know about the duo through media and contacted authorities, who forwarded the details about the Indians.
So far, police have arrested two foreign nationals. One of them is Mieraili, who carried a Chinese passport with birth place listed as Xinjiang. He was arrested on September 1, while trying to enter Cambodia.
Thai police said that Mieraili had confessed to possessing explosives. The Erawan bombing left over 20 dead, including six Chinese, which turned the needle of suspicion to Uighur minority. Thailand was earlier an easy transit point for Uighurs to leave China and make their way to Turkey and the West. But with warming China ties after the military coup, the junta have been cracking down on the community.