Police in the Thai capital Bangkok on Saturday arrested a foreign national connected to the deadly Erawan Shrine bombing that killed 20 people last week.
"We believe that he is part of the same gang [that carried out the Erawan shrine attack]," police spokesman Pol Lt Gen Prawut Thavornsiri said at a news conference Saturday evening, according to Bangkok Post.
A large quantity of explosives and a number of fake passports were seized from the suspect's apartment in Nong Chock suburb of eastern Bangkok, police officials said, BBC News reported.
"The 28-year-old has been charged with the illegal possession of bomb-making materials such as ball bearings and pipes to use as a bomb container," Prawut said, according to AFP.
National police Chief Somyot Poompunmuang, however, declined to link the arrested man with the bombing. "He is a foreigner, but it's unlikely that he is an international terrorist. It's a personal feud," he said.
The 28-year-old suspect, who was holding a Turkish passport, is the first person arrested in connection with the Bangkok bombing. Colonel Banphot Phunphien, spokesman of Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), confirmed to AFP that the suspect was a Turkish national.
Media reports said that the bombing suspect was a Turkish national, but police have yet to confirmed his nationality. He is reportedly identified as Adem Karadag by local media and holding a passport issued by the Republic of Turkey in Istanbul, according to Xinhua news agency.
The fatal bomb blast, which was the deadliest in the Thai capital in recent history, rocked the Buddhist Erawan Shrine in busy central district on Aug. 17, killing 20 people.
