Thai Police Say Phone Records Led To Bombing Suspect

Thai police have said that a meticulous search of phone records led them to the man they believe was involved in a Bangkok explosion in which 20 people died, according to a local newspaper report Sunday.



The Bangkok Post reported an unnamed police source close to the investigation as saying that the arrest of the foreign man -- who held a fake Turkish passport -- came after police officials spent more than a week sifting through mobile phone calls made near the Hindu shrine in central Bangkok where the Aug. 17 bombing took place.



On Saturday, police and soldiers arrested the man at an apartment building on Bangkok's eastern outskirts.



Bomb-making materials were reportedly found at the apartment, similar to those used in the explosion that left 20 dead and more than 120 others wounded. 



A police source who was not authorized to speak with media told Anadolu Agency that ball bearings, wires and several passports were found at the site.



The passports -- Turkish in design -- were later announced by police spokesman Prawut Thavornsiri to be fake.



An image provided by police of the man's passport showed a misspelled Istanbul birthplace, a Turkish name and two dates of expiry in English.



"We found numerous passports belonging to one nation in his possession," Thavornsiri said in a police statement, showing a stack of the forged Turkish passports that he said were also found in the apartment.



Prawut said that the suspect is being detained for questioning at an unspecified military camp.



Turkish authorities told Anadolu Agency late Saturday that they had appealed to Thai officials for information on the arrest, given the suspects use of the forged Turkish travel documents.



Local and international media had earlier reported police sources as saying that that the man was believed to be Turkish. 



An unnamed Turkish diplomatic source said that after first trying diplomatic channels but receiving no response, they had sought the help of international criminal police organization Interpol in reaching Thai authorities.



The source was not named according to Turkish Foreign Ministry protocol.



On Friday, the Thai ambassador to Ankara, Tharit Charungvat, had stressed that Bangkok did not believe there was any involvement from Turkey in the bombing.



Referring to foreign media reports that Turkish citizens might be involved, he expressed to Anadolu Agency his concern of a potential "misunderstanding".



He stressed that the allegation had not come from the Thai government, proportioning the blame at media sensationalism.



"Matters can easily be exaggerated and misconstrued by media and press," he said. 



The shrine where the bombing took place is extremely popular with tourists, especially Chinese.



Media have speculated on a connection between the bombing and Thailand sending 109 ethnic Uighur to China, from a group of around 350 who were being held in Thai immigration centers.



Around 180 had earlier been sent to Turkey, which welcomes Uighur as its own as they are among a number of Turkic tribes that inhabit a region many Turks call East Turkestan and consider to be part of Central Asia, not China.



*Anadolu Agency correspondent Yusuf Hatip in Ankara contributed to this report. - Ankara