Alleged militant Masamri Masae is transferred to hospital after being captured in Pattani yesterday.

Mahama Meha, 27, who had a Bt500,000 bounty on his head, was arrested in a house in Pattani town. He was wanted in connection with a raid on Wat Promprasith in Pattani's Panare district in October last year, and with other murder cases, according to Pol Maj-General Worapong Chiewpreecha, deputy commander of the taskforce.

Some 20 suspected insurgents stormed into the temple in the early hours of October 16, hacking an elderly Buddhist monk to death and fatally shooting two teenagers. The temple was set ablaze during the attack. A dozen suspects have been arrested since the raid.

Mahama is also accused of involvement in a murder case in Pattani's Yaring district last year, Worapong said.

During the roundup yesterday, officials also arrested Masamri Masae, a suspect in an ambush that killed a soldier in Pattani's Thung Yang Daeng district in February. Masamri, who was suffering from wounds apparently sustained during the attack, was taken to hospital for treatment.

A separate sweep in Brahom sub-district of Pattani yesterday netted three more suspected militants, Ibrahim Hama, Yuso Masae and Suhairee Doloh, who are accused of involvement of many violent acts in the deep South. Police said the militants had been given insurgency training and concentrated their operations in the Pattani area.

All suspects in the two crackdowns were later brought before the media at the Pattani provincial police office together with their relatives, but media representatives were not allowed to interview any of them.

Lt-General Ongkan Thongprasong, Fourth Army Region commander, gave credit to all agencies that participated in the joint operation.

In Bangkok, Deputy Prime Minister Chidchai Vanasatidya said the operation deserved praise, despite the fact that all the suspects are low-ranking insurgents, not leaders. The arrests could lead to the capture of higher-ranking insurgents, he said. 

The Nation

Pattani