Thai police issue arrest warrant for 'foreign man' seen in Bangkok blast footage
Police offered a 1 million baht ($28,000) reward for help leading to his arrest
Bangkok: Thai police on Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for an individual they described as a "foreign man", in connection with a bomb blast in Bangkok that killed 20 people, including many foreigners.
A court approved the arrest warrant, said Thai police spokesman Prawut Thawornsiri. The warrant says police are seeking "a foreign man, unnamed, according to the sketch", referring to a sketch released earlier in the day that showed a fair-skinned man with thick, medium-length black hair, a wispy beard and black glasses. The man could be of "mixed origin", Prawut said in a televised interview.
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Police offered a 1 million baht ($28,000) reward for help leading to his arrest. But apart from a rough portrait, authorities have few solid leads, they don't know the bomber's motive, where he's from or if he's still in the country.
Read: Police release sketch of Bangkok bomb suspect, offer reward
The sketch was released after grainy security video footage showed the man leaving behind a backpack just 15 minutes before the blast at a popular downtown shrine. Police said the picture was also partly based on a description provided by a motorcycle taxi driver believed to have given him a ride on the night of the Monday blast.
Police chief Somyot Poompanmoung said authorities didn't know if the suspect seen in the video was still in the country, whether he was Thai or a foreigner and were wondering if he wore a disguise to mask his identity.
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"If citizens or anyone can give us information or clues that leads to the arrest of this man I have set a reward of 1 million baht," Somyot told reporters, adding that police believe the bomber worked with accomplices.
"He didn't do it alone, for sure. It's a network," Somyot said. Police spokesman Lt. Gen. Prawut Thavornsiri said the security footage appears to show two possible accomplices who are also considered suspects.