Article 82

Murder suspect denies being paid

WASSANA NANUAM

A suspect in the shooting of a Pattani court judge says nobody hired him or his accomplices to commit the crime _ they did it in the name of separatism.

``Nobody hired us [to kill a judge]. No wages. But we have separatist ideologies. If we can kill more than three civil servants, we will be sent for weapons training abroad,'' said Abdullah Pahsee, 20, one of four suspects in the shooting of Rapin Ruenkaew, 37, a Pattani provincial court judge.

Mr Abdullah, a former student of Triam Suksa Witthaya school in Muang Pattani district, told police he was a lookout and helped in the planning, but not a gunman in the murder.

The suspect did not identify which country he and his accomplices would be sent to for training. However, police said they would be sent to a neighbouring country.

During police interrogation, the suspect implicated three accomplices, still at large. They are gang leader Annungwa Kasor, 23, an ustaz or Islamic religious teacher at Triam Suksa Witthaya school, and two other students identified as Bueraheng Mamah and Abdul Kamah.

On Sept 17, the three accomplices allegedly followed Mr Rapin on two motorcycles from his house on Sarit road in Muang district to a school where he dropped off his child. The assailants fired seven rounds at the judge through his car window at an intersection. After the shooting, they abandoned one motorcycle at the scene and fled on the other motorcycle.

Pol Col Somsak Nakhayokhee, deputy chief of Pattani police, said warrants have been issued for the arrest of the three suspects.

``Mr Abdullah said he chose not to kill Mr Rapin. Mr Annungwa prepared the murder plot. His gang had not specified the target must be Mr Rapin. They chose him as he was a civil servant,'' said Pol Col Somsak.

Mr Abdullah was yesterday taken to nine locations to re-enact the crime. The suspect was escorted by more than 50 police and soldiers.

The locations included Triam Suksa Witthaya school where he lived before the shooting; the First Sight tea shop where the four suspects plotted the murder; a public telephone and a petrol station near the judge's residence where Mr Abdullah observed the house and vehicle used by the judge; a public telephone booth from which the suspect phoned to give details of the judge's car to the gunmen; and Rong Lhao intersection where the judge was shot.