War weapons recovered in Kathu

KATHU: Police recovered a briefcase full of explosives along a road in Kathu early Monday morning after investigating an anonymous tipoff. Responding to a call phoned in on the emergency 191 number at about 1:30 am on January 5, Deputy Phuket Provincial Police Commander Pol Col Apirak Hongthong ordered officers from Thung Thong Police sub-district to secure the location before racing to the scene with a team of police officials from various units. Near an electricity pole along Phra Phuket Kaew Rd (the Sam Kong-Kathu road), police found a briefcase containing five M67 fragmentation grenades, two one-kilogram TNT bombs and 191 rounds of assault rifle ammunition. The grenades, bombs and ammunition were wrapped separately in three plastic bags. The M67 fragmentation grenade is an egg-shaped, hand-thrown device, that has a normal killing zone of 10 meters. It can propel fragments and cause injury up to 200 meters away. Pol Lt Col Ampolwat Sangrueng of Thung Thong police station, who was involved in the recovery operation, told the Gazette, “We will investigate to try to find out who the owners were. If we find them, they will be prosecuted because the December 15 amnesty has now passed.”