PATTANI — Four people killed in a clash between government forces and suspected insurgents in Thung Yang Daeng district of Pattani province on March 25 were not militants or supporters of the insurgency, an investigating panel reported on Tuesday.
The committee also recommended that legal action be taken against the authorities involved in the anti-insurgency raid on a house in Moo 6 village of Ban To Chut on March 25.
The panel was appointed by the Internal Security Operation Command Region 4 Forward Command to look into the case after the families of those killed insisted the men were not connected to the insurgency and were innocent. The families accused authorities of over-reacting.
The clash occurred when government forces raided a house under construction in tambon Pithen of Thung Yang Daeng district. Four men were gunned down and a number of suspects detained for questioning.
The four men killed were Suhaimee Seniae, 32, son of the deputy chairman of Piten Tambon Administration Organisation, and three Islamic University students: Kholid Samaeng, 24, Madaree Maeroh, 23 and Saddam Wanu, 23.
Two investigation panel members -- Veerapong Kaewsuwan, the Pattani governor, and Waedueramae Mamingji, chairman of the Pattani Islamic Committee -- on Tuesday announced the result of the inquiry.
They said the panel concluded that the four killed were not militants or supporters of the insurgency movement. The board ruled, however, that raid was conducted properly and in line with required procedures.
But the panel stopped short of declaring whether the extrajudicial killing of the four men was legal or whether the weapons seized by the authorities belonged to those killed because investigators were given only seven days to wrap up their inquiry.
The panel, therefore, left it to officials to gather more evidence and conduct additional investigations to establish the facts surrounding the killings and the weapons, said the two panellists.
The investigation panel also proposed that legal action be taken against the officials who were involved in the raid to ensure justice to all concerned and that compensation be paid for the deaths according to the regulations of the committee on development strategies in the southern border provinces.
The panel holds a briefing on its findings on April 7, 2015.