Police have rejected claims they tortured the suspected "popcorn" gunman and coerced him into signing a confession.
Vivat Yodprasit, 24, claims he was assaulted by police and forced to confess that he had concealed an assault rifle inside a popcorn sack and fired multiple rounds during clashes at Laksi intersection on Feb 1, according to his lawyer, Puangthip Boonsanong.
Ms Puangthip said Wednesday her client was not the popcorn gunman and that his confession had been given under duress while in police custody.
The lawyer alleged that Mr Vivat, who was apprehended in Surat Thani on March 19, was blindfolded, tied with rope and beaten by officers several times in the stomach and neck while travelling in the back of a van en route to Bangkok.
The torture did not leave any visible marks because police covered Mr Vivat's stomach with a cushion and wrapped his neck with a piece of cloth before tying the rope, Ms Puangthip claimed.
She said Mr Vivat was forced to confess three times in the van. When the vehicle reached the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order, the suspect was taken into a room where he was threatened with another round of torture if he refused to confess, the lawyer claimed.
He was forced to sign a written confession despite being denied the chance to read the document, the lawyer said.
Assistant police chief Winai Thongsong, however, was quick to dismiss the accusations, saying it would be impossible for torture to not leave visible marks on the suspect's body.
Also rejecting Ms Puangthip's claims that her client had been forced to follow a script when presented before a media conference, Pol Lt Gen Winai said reporters had seen for themselves Mr Vivat's statements were not scripted.