The Na Thawi provincial court approved arrest warrants for six suspects in connection with car robberies and hostage taking in the far South last week.
The court in Songkhla released warrants for the arrest of six suspects identified as Attanan Sa-i, 36, Sulaiman Samoh, 35, Bukholi Lamso, 28, Sareesanamri Tueramae, 35, Rosari Lamso, 26, and Abdulloh Madae.
They are wanted on 11 charges including terrorism, collecting firearms, conspiring to commit murder and illegal detention of other people.
Yesterday, the Pattani provincial court also issued arrest warrants for suspects in crimes committed in Pattani.
The suspects are believed to have stolen six pickup trucks from a Songkhla car dealership and abducted four people on Aug 16.
One hostage was killed by the gunmen and the rest escaped. One of the gunmen was killed by police after a chase when he drove through a checkpoint set up after the holdups.
The warrants were approved hours after the police submitted the request along with evidence.
Deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul said yesterday four of the suspects were believed to be involved in a series of attacks in Pattani and one of them, Mr Rosari, is connected to Sobri Lamso wanted in connection with a blast in Krabi's Ao Nang district in August last year.
He said tests on the spent bullet cases collected from the scene showed one of the guns had been used in 21 incidents since 2008 while the other fired by the dead gunman was used in three attacks.
According to a police source, Mr Sulaiman has six outstanding warrants dating back to 2010 including one for murder issued by the Songkhla provincial court. Mr Bukholi has four prior warrants while Mr Sareesanamri and Mr Rosari have one each.
Pol Gen Srivara, who travelled to Songkhla to supervise the investigation, said at least seven people were involved in the attack but denied that three people being held by troops were those named in the warrants.
The deputy police chief also paid a visit to one of the surviving victims.
The series of car robberies started in Pattani, where armed men held up a married couple and stole their pickup truck in Yarang district about 4.30am last Wednesday.
The stolen vehicle was allegedly used by the suspects, who dressed in clothing similar to the security forces, to travel to a used-car dealership, Wang To Car Centre, in Songhla's Na Thawi district. They stole six pickups from there and abducted four people, including the shop owner.
Meanwhile, authorities in Krabi yesterday put up signboards urging the public to come forward if they have information about Mr Sobri's alleged involvement in the bomb blasts last year.
Pol Col Worapol Palrat, chief of Ao Nang police station, said police had no information suggesting a possible attack but security was being intensified as a precaution.
Ao Nang is among major tourist attractions in the southern provinces which were targets of violent attacks during Aug 11-12 last year. Attackers planted a bomb at a clothes and souvenir shop on the beach front.
