Bangkok: Thai police said today they had
arrested a "Red Shirt" guard in connection with an arson
attack on the country`s biggest shopping mall in May, which
followed two months of anti-government protests.
Saichon Paebua, 28, from the central province of Chainat,
was arrested in Bangkok late yesterday for his alleged
involvement in the fire at the capital`s Central World mall,
which was left gutted by the blaze and partly collapsed.
A Bangkok district court issued his arrest warrant on
June 1 after he was seen in photographs breaking glass windows
and walking inside the mall on the afternoon of May 19, the
day of the blaze.
Saichon, who was employed by the "Red Shirts" as a guard
during the rally, confirmed he was the person in the footage
but denied arson charges.
"He can deny but police will send him to the court as we
have clear evidence against him," King Kwangwisetchaicharn,
commander of Chanasongkram Police station in Bangkok, told.
Police have issued three other warrants for suspected
arsonists.
The Red Shirts, who are campaigning for elections to
replace a government they say is illegitimate, mounted two
months of rolling demonstrations in March that saw clashes and
blasts that left 89 dead and 1,900 injured.
PTI
