December 4, 2004

Four schools shut after teachers shot, one dies

POST REPORTERS

A garage and a training centre were torched almost simultaneously early yesterday in Narathiwat province.

The first arson attack was on the garage of 62-year-old Veerayos Purikarn at Ban Tonmaisung village in tambon Paluru, Sungai Padi district just after midnight.

Police, soldiers and volunteers rushed to the scene to fight the blaze, but the garage near Mr Veerayos' house was razed. A pick-up truck, a motorcycle and a mechanised lawn mower were damaged.

Several pieces of sacking soaked in petrol were found at the scene. Mr Veerayos was sleeping at the time of the fire.

While police were inspecting the fire-hit garage, a makeshift training centre in the same village was torched.

The training centre, about 200 metres away from the garage, was gutted. The centre was run by Sermsak Bin-awae, 53, who used it to train Muslim youths to perform dikae-huloo , or Muslim folk singing. Pieces of sacking soaked in petrol were also found at the scene.

Police believed the arson attacks might have been carried out by the same group.

Meanwhile, in Pattani, four schools have been temporarily shut after the recent shooting of two teachers in Sai Buri district.

Ban Plong Hoi, Ban Manae Ladae, Ban Beuro and Ban Makor schools in Kapho district's tambon Plong Hoi were closed as teachers were fearful for their safety.

Earlier, a teacher was shot dead and his colleague wounded in a gun attack in Sai Buri district on Thursday evening.

Chalermpong Muakchumbok, 42, and Charan Kanchanarangsri, 47, of Ban Makor School, were attacked in tambon Kalunang while on their way home to Kapho district. Mr Chalermpong died instantly and Mr Charan was seriously wounded and hospitalised but is now out of danger.

Eight people were yesterday taken in for questioning by security forces for interrogation to see if they were involved in the recent incidents in Kapho district.

They were Abdul Mamas Chelae, a member of the Pattani Islamic Committee, Ekarat Ali, a defence volunteer, and six villagers _ Hama Mali, Ibrahim Samo, Abdulloh Rusa, Abdulloh Lekuheng, Maktar Hama and Aiyub Rusa.

In another development, the government-appointed committee investigating the Oct 25 Tak Bai tragedy has completed interviewing members of state authorities involved.

Pichet Sunthornpipit, committee chairman, said sub-committees assigned to interview those people who were involved in or who witnessed the incident had not yet finished their work.

He said the committee would try to complete the entire investigation within the 45-day time-frame.

Mr Pichet said Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot Maneerin, assistant national police chief and deputy director of the Southern Border Provinces Peace-building Command, yesterday testified to the committee.

Pol Lt-Gen Wongkot said he arrived at the scene of the Tak Bai protest in Narathiwat at 1.30pm on Oct 25 and stayed until the rioters were arrested.

However, the police officer said he did not see how the protesters were transported to Ingkhayuthaboriharn army camp in Pattani.

He said this was because he had left the scene to report to the prime minister, Mr Pichet said.

A Matichon newspaper photographer who took pictures of protesters being piled up in military trucks also testified to the committee yesterday.

Mr Pichet admitted local residents and state authorities had provided the panel with different accounts of how protesters were transported to Pattani, during which 78 suffocated.

The committee would weigh the information given by the two sides before reaching a conclusion, he said.