Malaysian authorities have arrested three suspects linked to a bomb attack in Bangkok last month that killed 20 people and wounded more than 120.
Police chief Khalid Abu Bakar told reporters that two Malaysians, a man and a woman had been detained, along with a Pakistani man.
“We believe the suspects can help in the investigation ... our arrest was made to assist the Thai police in the Thai bombing investigation,” he said. “Malaysian and Thai police are working closely in cooperation.”
The investigation into the blast in August at a popular shrine, where most of the fatalities were ethnic Chinese, has widened to include countries around Thailand.
Police also said the suspected mastermind of the attack, Abu Dustar Abdulrahman (known as Izan), had fled to Turkey.
Police previously said he had made his way to China through Bangladesh, but on Friday, national police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri said that information gathered by Thai police and Bangladeshi officials showed that he departed Bangladesh’s capital, Dhaka, on 30 August and travelled to Istanbul as his final destination, via Delhi and Abu Dhabi.
On Sunday, Thai police issued a photograph of Izan and called him a member of the Uighur ethnic group in China. But authorities later asked media to withdraw the description and said he was not the group leader, adding further confusion to the haphazard investigation.
When asked about Izan last week, China Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China “follows the investigation into the case and stays in close communication with the Thai side”.
Police have suggested the bombing relates to a criminal gang, but there is growing speculation in Thailand that the attack is linked to Uighurs, a Muslim minority in western China.
Thailand forcibly returned 109 Uighurs to China in July. The deportations angered the Uighur community and caused an outcry from human rights groups and the UN, amid fears they could face persecution and abuse.
Many Uighurs have fled to Thailand in the hope of travelling on to Turkey, which has strong cultural links to the group and has sheltered them for decades.
Thai authorities have suggested at least two of the suspects for the bombing are Turkish, and a leaked photo, purportedly of key suspect Yusufu Mierili’s passport, suggesting he was from the Chinese autonomous region of Xinjiang, home to the Uighurs.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Reuters contributed to this report
