Rice miller shot and beheaded
The owner of a rice mill was shot and beheaded in southernmost Pattani province yesterday, with a leaflet found at the scene claiming the killing was retaliation for an earlier bomb blast that injured three Muslims.
Chuan Kaewthongprakham, 72, was shot dead while working at his rice mill in Pattani's Khok Pho district by suspected militants who then chopped off his head and took it away.Police found three leaflets at the scene, one of which said: "This was meant as revenge for the bomb last night". The message referred to an explosion in Ban Nakho Nua in the same district on Wednesday night that injured three local Muslims. Police suggested that the militants might have linked Chuan, who is a Buddhist and father of a municipal official, to the bomb blast to create a rift between Buddhist officials and local Muslims. The killing is the latest incident in ongoing violence in the deep South since the beginning of 2004 that has killed about 2,000 people. The Nation Pattani
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