A combined force of police and military rangers arrested five illegal migrants — three suspected ethnic Uighurs from northwest China and two Bangladeshi men — in Aranyaprathet district yesterday.
Published: 6 Oct 2014 at 05.18
SA KAEO: A combined force of police and military rangers arrested five illegal migrants — three suspected ethnic Uighurs from northwest China and two Bangladeshi men — in Aranyaprathet district yesterday.
Authorities received a tip-off that many illegal migrants, including Muslim Uighurs from China’s Xinjiang region, had been hiding in Cambodia’s Poi Pet border town and were preparing to sneak into Thailand.
The police and military rangers were patrolling Khok Sabaeng-Nong Ian road in tambon Tha Kham when they noticed a suspicious looking pickup truck travelling at high speed and tried to stop it. Police gave chase when the vehicle sped away.
The authorities eventually stopped the vehicle and found the driver was a retired policeman, identified as Pol Sgt Maj Wichit Phuennguluem, 57. Authorities also found five foreign men in the vehicle and detained them for questioning.
A search found Bangladeshi passports in the bags held by two of the men. They are identified in their passports as Moral Mohammed Abbaz Sabur, 41, and Addin Mohammed Shofie, 42.
The men told police they were from Bangladesh and had sneaked into Thailand for work after failing to obtain a visa. Police suspect the other three men, who refused to speak, came from China’s restive Xinjiang region.
Col Phichit Meekhunsut, commander of the 12th Rangers Regiment in Sa Kaeo, has instructed all ranger units at the Thai-Cambodia border to tighten measures to prevent Uighurs from entering illegally.
Leave a Comment