Car-bomb suspects get bail
Three Army suspects in the alleged plot to assassinate caretaker prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra with a car bomb were released on bail yesterday.
Sgt-Major Chakhrit Janthana, the only suspect police said had been cooperative in their investigation, was freed from military custody in Nakhon Pathom but was still under the protection of Crime Suppression Division (CSD) police at Chokechai Soi 4.National Police chief General Kowit Wattana had reportedly given investigators permission to drop Chakhrit as a suspect and treat him as a key state witness. CSD commander Maj-General Winai Thongsong confirmed nvestigators had reached a consensus to exclude Chakhrit as a suspect. Police will soon complete their probe, leaving Chakhrit out, and recommend prosecution of the four other suspects, although the exact charges against them have not been decided. Also released were Lieutenant Thawatchai Klinchana and Colonel Surapol Supradit. Thawatchai was arrested on the morning of August 24 while driving a Daewoo sedan loaded with explosives under the Bang Plat flyover, where the vehicle was intercepted. Surapol was alleged to be the buyer of the sedan and a key operative in the car-bomb attack. Thawatchai posted bail worth Bt500,000. He was required to report to the Bangkok Military Court on October 11. The value of Suraphol's bail was not known. Lt-Colonel Manas Sukprasert is now the only suspect still in military detention.
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