Thai police: 2 wanted for killing Japanese man may be phone scammers

Thai police suspect that two wanted Japanese men allegedly involved in the killing of a Japanese man are members of a phone scam group. The victim's dismembered body was found in a Bangkok suburb.

Thai police have obtained arrest warrants for Kato Takuya, aged 49, and Suzuki Hiroto, who is 27. They say the two were seen in the country's northeastern province bordering Laos after the killing took place.

Last week, bags containing parts of a Japanese man's body were discovered in Nonthaburi Province in the suburbs of the Thai capital.

A skull with an apparent gunshot wound was later found hundreds of meters from the site where the bags were found.

The police identified the body as that of 47-year-old Kabashima Ryosuke. They believe he was killed in late March and his body was dismembered and then abandoned.

Earlier this week, the police detained a Thai man who drove a car for the three Japanese. He reportedly told police that the three men started arguing in the car and one of them was shot dead.

The police suspect the two wanted men are members of a yakuza gangster group.