Two grenades exploded near the Ekamai area home of Constitution Court judge Jaran Pukditanakul on the eve of the court's ruling on the nullification of the Feb 2 election.
Somkhuan Soon-on, 73, points at a hole in the roof left by a grenade that landed on her house in Soi Ekamai 30 Yeak 3, near the home of charter court judge Jarun Pukditanakul late Thursday. The grenade exploded near the bed of her son Boonchuay Pimsamrit, 43, who was resting. He was injured by shrapnel and rushed to hospital. KOSOL NAKACHOL
Klong Tan police received a call reporting "bomb-like sounds" at 11.30pm on Thursday and rushed to the scene with explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) officers.
The grenades were 40mm grenades fired from one or more M79 launchers, Pol Col Kamthorn Ouicharoen, superintendent of the city police EOD unit, said after inspecting the scene.
The weapons have an effective range of about 400 metres.
The first grenade landed on a one-storey house in Soi Ekamai. It came through the roof and exploded near the bed of Boonchuay Pimsamrit, 43, who was resting. He was injured by the bomb shrapnel and was sent to nearby Petcharavej Hospital.
The second grenade landed on a second, two-storey home in Yeak 4, about 100m from the first explosion. Home owner Phanomphrai Panyasai, 49, was not in the house when the grenade went off. Shrapnel was found on an empty bed.
Pol Col Supot Phromsiri, deputy superintendent of Metropolitan Police Bureau’s Division 5, said at the scene that witnesses confirmed hearing three bomb-like sounds, but by Friday morning investigators had found evidence of only two explosions.
Both homes hit were about 200m from the residence of Mr Jaran.
Investigators are uncertain whether he was the target of assailants who aimed poorly.
Pol Col Supot said the police had already boosted security surveillance around Mr Jaran’s house.
The attacks came on the eve of the Constitution Court's ruling on the validity of the Feb 2 election yesterday. The judges voted 6-3 to void the poll because it could not be completed in one day.
A source said Mr Jaran was among the majority of judges who voted to void the election.
Meanwhile, gunmen opened fired at the office of a red-shirt leader Suporn Atthawong in Nakhon Ratchasima's Khon Buri district yesterday. No one was injured.
Security guards at the office, which is also used as the Pheu Thai Party's coordination centre, alerted police after hearing the gunshots about 3am. Police found the front parts of the office damaged by bullets, possibly fired from an AK or M16 rifle.
Khon Buri police chief Pralong Chob-ngam said police found 19 bullet holes on the wall and nearby power pole.
An initial examination of surveillance camera footage show at least two people taking part in the shooting, he said.
The attackers drove a pickup truck on the Chokchai-Khon Buri road and stopped near the office before spraying bullets at the premises.
Police assigned more weight to the shooting attack being politically motivated rather than sparked by personal conflicts, Pol Col Pralong said.
Mr Suporn has recently set up the Democracy Protection Volunteers Group aimed at resisting "all types of dictatorship".
The group has been recruiting young people since late last month.
Political observers had raised concerns that the move would trigger violent confrontation between the pro- and anti-government camps.
Mr Suporn yesterday said he believed those who have links with the anti-government camp were involved in the attack.
He pointed out that the attack came shortly after he lodged defamation complaints against an executive of T-News online media for using a photoshopped picture depicting his volunteer group as a separatist group.
T-News is known to have close ties with the People's Democratic Reform Committee.
National police chief Adul Saengsingkaew has instructed police to speed up investigations into near daily attacks at the residences of prominent figures, including the attack near Mr Jaran's house and that on Mr Suporn's office.