December 30, 2004

Grocer, policeman latest victims of unrest

WAEDA-OH HARAI & MUHAMAD AYUB PATHAN


Violence continued unabated in the deep South yesterday as four people were attacked and two of them killed.

 Pol Snr Sgt-Maj Mohammad Benjakaj, 40, was shot by a man on a motorcycle in Pattani's Muang district as he was travelling home.  

 He was hit three times, once in the head, and pronounced dead on arrival at hospital.

 Panatda Ruensuwan, 29, a teacher at Phadungwit school in Narathiwat's Sungai Kolok district, was shot by a motorcyclist in Tak Bai district on her way to school.

 She was being treated in hospital for bullet wounds to the hip and right arm.

 Banthueng Pattaradune, 50, a newspaper agent, was shot and killed by a gunman posing as a customer at his grocery shop.

 The victim was holding a piece of cloth believed to have been ripped from the gunman's jacket when police arrived to investigate.

 Veerayuth Panbutr, a volunteer worker, 22, was shot twice in Pattani's Yaring district by a motorcycle gunman.  

 He was in critical condition in hospital last night.

 Police investigators believed all the shootings were related to the southern insurgency.

 Meanwhile, Yala teachers yesterday issued a statement saying all schools would be closed until the security situation returned to normal.

 A day earlier, the teachers federation agreed to suspend classes until Jan 4 after a gunman murdered Pratheep Supong of Sakhor school in Muang Yala district.

 Prasit Meksuwan, a teachers' leader, said meetings would be organised to gather opinions from all sectors of society on how to end the violence.

 He said a coordination centre would be set up to pursue peaceful means of resolving the problem.

 Deputy Education Minister Aree Wongaraya said yesterday the ministry would provide communication radios and set up a network for all schools as part of stepped-up security measures.

 He said the ministry was coordinating with the Southern Border Provinces Peace-keeping Command to provide security for teachers in the deep South.

 He said the ministry had initially given 50,000 baht in compensation to Pratheep's family and and would provide more assistance later on.

 The deputy minister yesterday distributed 55 million baht to 212 ponoh schools in the three southern provinces for their development.