[Bangkok Post] The Border Patrol Police commissioner traveled to Yala province on Saturday to examine the case in which a gunman, who had earlier gunned down a village chief, was killed by the authorities in an exchange of gunfire in Bannang Sata district of Yala. Abdullateh Yaba was shot and killed by a gunman riding pillion on a motorbike outside a mosque after in Ban Kalang Saturday afternoon. Security officers caught up with the men in a local village. One of them ran behind a house and shot at the officers, who returned fire, killing him instantly. The other man fled.
The body of the gunman was identified as Abadi Sa-eh. A 9mm pistol was retrieved near the body.
BPP chief Sompong Chingduang flew out to the district to check on the probe. He said it was treated as an important security case as the gunman may have been involved in a local drug trafficking network.
A security source said Abadi was a member of the RKK insurgent group based in Krong Pinang district. He was arrested earlier under the emergency decree in Yala but later released.