Bangkok blast culprit in custody: Police

Thai police on Saturday said a man they had arrested over a deadly bombing at Bangkok's Erawan shrine is the actual culprit, the media reported.

A police spokesman said the man - earlier named as Adem Karadag - was the figure in a yellow shirt seen on CCTV leaving a bag at the shrine on August 17 which exploded resulting in the death of 20 people mostly foreigners and injuring 130 others, BBC reported.

Karadag, who has also been named as Bilal Mohammed, was arrested in late August in a raid on a flat on the eastern outskirts of Bangkok.

Thai police had said DNA samples taken from him did not match the DNA found on evidence that the bomber is believed to have left behind on the night of the attack.

Police also appeared to rule out that a second man in their custody - identified as Yusufu Mieraili - was a main suspect in the attack.

However, on Friday, police spokesman Prawut Thornsiri said one of the warrants issued was for "Bilal Mohammed, who is the man in yellow who placed the rucksack at the Erawan shrine".

"All the information we have leads back to him."

Police had released warrants for a total of 17 people over charges stemming from the attack.

The suspects are believed to carrying Chinese, Thai, Turkish and Pakistani passports, though their exact origins are unclear as some are thought to be using fake documents.

The motive of the attack remains unclear.

The Erawan shrine - centred around a four-faced golden statue of the Hindu god Brahma - is considered sacred by Thai Buddhists, and attracts many foreign visitors.