An administrator of a private Islamic school linked to the shooting of a senator on Sunday has accused the local governor of making groundless accusations about the murder attempt.

Narathiwat Governor Pracha Therat alleged yesterday that the man who tried to kill outgoing Senator Fakhrudin Boto was a student expelled from Darusa-lam Islamic School for misbehaviour.

Rangae district commander, Pol Colonel Manote Anandritthikul, suspected the students were involved in drugs and sexual misconduct. Manote alleged that about 20 of those expelled were pregnant young women.

Neither Pracha nor Manote offered an explanation about the claims.

But the vice principal of the Darusalam Islamic School, Santhan Renseb, yesterday strongly dismissed the allegations.

Santhan told reporters yesterday that 55 students had been transferred from the school from June 1 to July 25.

But he said the main reason was security - not misbehaviour.

"They wanted to pursue their religious education elsewhere," Santhan said.

In addition to the 55 transferred out, 50 other students who applied to attend the school failed to show up for this academic year.

Santhan said their failure to appear was tied to security concerns in the restive region, where more than 1,300 people have been killed since January 2004.

About 5,000 students are enrolled at the school.

Caretaker Education Minister Chaturon Chaisaeng, meanwhile, urged all parties to remain calm and not to speculate before the investigation is completed.

"People should not be making assumptions until the culprit is arrested as this could jeopardise attempts to solve the problem," Chaturon said.

Pracha on Sunday rejected suggestions that the shooting of Fakhrudin had nothing to do with violence in the area.

On Sunday morning, a gunman shot Fakhrudin on his motorbike inside the compound of the Darusalam Islamic School.

The senator was yesterday in a stable condition at a hospital in Narathiwat.

Amornrat Khemkhao

The Nation

Narathiwat