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Turkish man sought over Bangkok blast

September 2, 2015

Thai police have issued an arrest warrant for a Turkish man, whose Thai wife is also a suspect in the August 17 bombing. Investigators say they've made significant progress in solving the case over the past few days.

https://p.dw.com/p/1GPxT
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo

Detectives believe the man, Emrah Davutoglu, is "part of network that provided accommodation" to those connected with Thailand's deadliest bombing, which left 20 people dead. They think he is in Turkey.

Over the weekend, bomb-making materials were found during a raid on his wife, Wanna Suansan's apartment, on the outskirts of the city.

Thailand Bombenanschlag Verdächtige Wanna Suansan
Wanna Suansan was named as a possible suspect in the August 17 bombing on Monday. Her husband is now being soughtImage: Getty Images/AFP/N. Asfouri

Wanna has told police that she is in Turkey, had nothing to do with the bombing and wants to return to Thailand to clear her name.

Separately, Police also confirmed that a man arrested on Tuesday, close to the border with Cambodia, had admitted being near the scene of the August 17 blast. Officials say he speaks Turkish.

His fingerprints appeared to tie him to the room of the suspected bomber. Police believe DNA evidence will link him to explosive materials found at another apartment.

The man has denied being the bomber seen in CCTV footage released shortly after the explosion, but conceded that he had been at the scene.

Thailand Bombenanschlag Verdächtiger Festnahme
A man, who speaks Turkish, was arrested at the Thai-Cambodian border on TuesdayImage: picture-alliance/epa

"It's natural that the suspect will deny he did it, but we still have to continue to look into that," Chakthip Chaijinda, deputy national police chief, told the press. Investigators claim that the case has already progressed about 70 percent.

He had stayed in the Nong Chok area of Bangkok, close to where another suspect was picked up over the weekend, along with hundreds of fake passports and explosives like TNT and C4.

Speculation has increased that a Turkish far-right group may have planned the attack to avenge Thailand's force repatriation of ethnic Uighurts to China in July.

mm/kms (AFP, AP, dpa)