Bangkok police have offered to hold truce talks with the anti-government “Talugas” group, in an effort to find a peaceful solution to the weeks of violent protests at Din Daeng intersection, Pol Maj-Gen Jirasant Kaewsang-ek, deputy metropolitan police commissioner, told a news conference this morning (Tuesday).

He said, however, that the police will have to enforce the law strictly, if protesters resort to violence, while dismissing an allegation that police used teargas at the intersection last night.

The deputy commissioner also offered an apology to residents of the Din Daeng community over the searches of some apartment buildings late last night, looking for protesters believed to have been hiding there to evade arrest, insisting that the searches were necessary to restore peace and order.

26 protesters were rounded up last night by the authorities, including 21 in the Din Daeng community and its vicinity. Among them are 6 teenagers, including a 15-year-old boy, he said.

Several firecrackers and flares were found hidden in Ton Pho Lane.