Thai police arrest suspect in Bangkok shrine bombing

BANGKOK, Aug. 29 (UPI) -- Thai police arrested a man in connection to a bombing that killed 20 people near a sacred shrine in the city's capital two weeks ago.

Police said the man was taken into custody after various bomb-making equipment, including detonators and a steel pipe, was found in his apartment in Nong Chok, located on the outskirts of Bangkok. Police said the man had "dozens" of passports inside his apartment. One was a Turkish passport with the name Adem Karadag, but it is unclear if that is his real name.

More than 100 Thai police swarmed the apartment where the man has been living since July.

"We have found components of bomb-making materials in his apartment, and I am confident that he is likely involved with the bomb attack," deputy national police chief General Chaktip Chaijinda said.

The bomb on Aug. 17 tore through the Erawan Shrine, a sacred site dedicated to the Hindu god Brahma, injuring more than 100 people, many tourists. A second bomb detonated near the Thai capital the same day, but no one was injured. No one has claimed responsibility for either attack.

After the incident, police released a sketch of a man seen in surveillance video wearing a yellow T-shirt and leaving a backpack under a bench before the explosion. Another camera showed him leaving on a motorcycle taxi.