BANGKOK (Reuters) -- Thai police said on Wednesday four Pakistanis they feared had been plotting a bomb attack during the Asian Games were not terrorists but businessmen who had overstayed their visas.

The Pakistan Embassy said Thai officers had tried to obtain confessions from the men under duress and one had been "severely beaten."Assistant National Police Chief Lieutenant Colonel Thawatchai Pailee told a news conference that suspected bombmaking components, which police earlier said had been seized from suspects, had not belonged to them.

"After a thorough investigation, we found they are not terrorists, and they have no record linking them to terrorist groups," he said. "So the suspects will only face charges for overstaying and be deported later."

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