Searches continue for more Rohingya bodies in Thai South

BANGKOK, May 6 (TNA) - Authorities have been looking for suspicious graves in Songkhla and Phang-nga Provinces in the Thai South in a bid to find more Rohingya victims of suspected cross-border human traffickers. In Songkhla, Wednesday's examination took place at nine graves in an old Muslims' graveyard at the base of the Kaeo Mountain in Padang Besar sub-district of Sadao District, as there were signs of Islamic burial and carrying poles of the same make as those found around nearby Rohingya victims' graves. Representatives of Thailand's Muslim spiritual leader joined the examination with other concerned authorities. Local police have already issued arrest warrants against eight suspects in the trafficking of Ronhingya people in Songkhla, five of them are now in custody. Meanwhile, Phang-nga Governor Prayoon Ratanaseni ordered subordinates to search for Rohingya bodies in a two-kilometer radius of a location where two human skeletons were discovered on May 5, as Rohingya victims had been reportedly tortured to death and buried on Toh Kra, Nok and Klang Islands off his province. Besides, local authorities have set up checkpoints on routes in Phang-nga's Ban Bang Kam area, believed to be used for the illegal immigration of Rohingya Muslims. (TNA)