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A suspected insurgent now in custody, Sakariya Tohtayong, has implicated alleged masterminds of the movement behind unrest in the deep South, a senior official said yesterday.

Sakariya gave useful testimony that may allow the authorities to solve many security cases.

They include bombings at the CS Pattani Hotel and the Diana shopping complex, the robbery of a security van carrying cash for a bank, and an attack on a grocery shop in which six people, including a baby, were killed.

Over Bt5.8 million was stolen from the security van.

"His answers during the interrogation have allowed us to know who are the masterminds and who are members of the movement," Colonel Komkrit Rattanachaya said, in his capacity as head of the 47th Paramilitary Regimental Taskforce.

Sakariya was arrested in Muang district in Pattani early on Saturday in an operation that saw security officials shoot Ameen Dareng dead during a 15-minute gunfight. Both Sakariya and Ameen, 31, were wanted for alleged roles in many incidents.

Komkrit said Sakariya told interrogators Ameen had ordered attacks on the grocery shop and the robbery of the security van. "We are in the process of solving major cases in the deep South," he said.

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