11 warrants out after fatal mob attack on policemen

Bangkok Post ^ | April 30, 2003 | Manop Thip-osod

[miltonim]

11 warrants out after fatal mob attack on policemen

Police have issued arrest warrants for 11 of 40 suspects in Saturday's mob attack in which two border patrol policemen were killed in Rangae district of Narathiwat.

National police chief Sant Sarutanont said there were 40 suspects in all but warrants had initially been issued yesterday by Rangae police for 11 of the 40 suspects. The majority of them were outsiders who had misled local villagers, most of whom were Muslim, into believing the policemen were robbers who preyed on people in southern border provinces, Pol Gen Sant said.

The two victims _ Pol Sgt Sophon Chonchalee and Pol Cpl Somkid Jermkhunthod _ were in plainclothes when they were captured by villagers. The national police chief said he would go to Rangae today for talks with local religious leaders.

He believed local police would be able to keep the situation there under control because district police chief Pol Col Noppadol Phueksophon had established a good working relationship with the local community.

Of Monday's raids by unknown gunmen on two government development centres in Narathiwat and Yala provinces, Pol Gen Sant said clearer details about the assailants should emerge within about two days.

However, they were believed to be two separate groups judging from their different methods of operation. The group that attacked the 12th Thaksin Pattana development centre in Narathiwat's Sukhirin district were violent and opened fire first on troops guarding the centre. Those who attacked the 5th Thaksin Pattana centre in Yala's Than To district fired only in self-defence.

Gen Sant warned local enforcement authorities to be more alert because southern bandits were usually more active in the month of May.

[JimSEA]

Before dismissing the following story as foolish villager superstition, think about the dress of the "trainees" in both the videos from al Quada and JI (Bashir's group)

Bangkok Post 30/4/2003

VIOLENCE IN THE SOUTH

Villagers in fear of `ninja' gang

Rumours abound despite assurances

Anucha Charoenpo

Rumours of a black-clad ninja gang of thieves continue to hold many remote villages in fear in the southern border provinces, despite repeated assurances by authorities the gang does not exist.

Women and children stay indoors whenever possible, while men avoid staying out too late in the night.

Saturday's fatal beating and stabbing of two border patrol policemen at Buenang Kuepoh village in Tanyongmas sub-district of Rangae district has had a strong psychological effect on the local residents.

The mob believed the two police officers were members of a ninja gang who had taken part in a string of robberies, extortions, rapes, burglaries and abductions in Narathiwat, Pattani and Yala provinces.

Local authorities have repeatedly denied their existence through radio broadcasts, but the fear had not loosened its grip when local villagers were interviewed yesterday.

A Muslim mother admitted she almost killed her own daughter on Monday night when she spooked and hit the girl on the head with a jungle knife, thinking she was a theft gang member who had broken into her house.

She attacked her daughter when the girl woke up to go to the toilet in the middle of the night in Yi Ngor district's Blumae village. The daughter has been admitted to Narathiwat hospital with a serious head injury. A week before, a suspected burglar had been beaten to death by an angry mob at Kajoh Matee village in Ba Joh district.

Most Muslim villagers in the area felt their life was still in grave danger from the mysterious criminals.

Villagers have stepped up security measures by setting up round-the-clock patrol units. Women and children are not allowed to leave their homes at night. Many coffeeshops where Muslims often gather late in the evening to discuss politics and other interesting subjects were told to close early.

Muslims who usually leave home at 3am to collect rubber latex at their plantations have rearranged their scheduled start to 6am for fear of making themselves unneccessary targets. Many village roads are also closed to strangers at night.

Rosa Beraheng, 53, Imam of Remaniya mosque in Buenang Kuepoh village, said the rumour was nothing new. It had been around for months. Both he and the villagers were afraid because there was no way to prove the gang did not exist. He conceded that he had no idea where the rumours originated and why people kept spreading them.

Royaree Taleh, 38, deputy village chief of Buenang Kuepoh village, said he told the villagers to stay behind locked doors at night. ``It's better not to take chances,'' he said.

The fatal stabbing of the two border policemen was the work of outsiders and not the local villagers, he said.