Logo of Phnom Penh Post newspaper Phnom Penh Post - Sword assault leaves one dead, two injured

Sword assault leaves one dead, two injured

Content image - Phnom Penh Post
Three suspects were arrested in Praek Leap commune of the capital’s Chroy Changvar district on February 22 after a man was killed in a neighbourhood dispute the previous day. Police

Sword assault leaves one dead, two injured

Three suspects were arrested in Praek Leap commune of the capital’s Chroy Changvar district on February 22 after a man was killed in a neighbourhood dispute the previous day.

District Military Police acting commander Hang Narith told The Post that the three were among six suspects who allegedly used knives and swords to attack three others, killing the man and seriously injured his two companions.

“They were arrested at the construction site of a Borey [gated residential community] located near the crime. Our forces are still searching for three more suspects,” he said,

Narith declined to identify the trio who have been arrested, saying they were sent to Phnom Penh municipal Military Police for questioning and that their identities would be made public once they were ready to charge them.

Lim Chanratana, deputy Praek Leap commune police chief, identified the murder victim as Khem Tola, a 20-year-old construction worker from Prey Veng province.

Tola and his two friends were reportedly drinking in front of a relative’s home when the group of six suspects savagely attacked them, killing Tola at the scene.

The two injured men are Sem Heng, 23, and Chet Chandin, 25, who were from the same village as Tola.

Chanratana said Tola was stabbed in the chest and also suffered a deep wound in his right thigh.

One of the survivors, Heng, has injuries to his costal cartilage – located on the thorax around the rib cage – as well as a deep cut on his left hand. The other surivivor, Chandin, lost three fingers in the attack. Both are currently in the emergency unit at Calmette Hospital.

Chanratana said the motive for the attack was not immediately clear. But citing local residents, he said that before the incident, the victims were drinking with their relatives and singing karaoke in front of the house of Tola’s brother-in-law.

At 10pm, the six suspects arrived on two motorbikes and stopped near the house. They revved their engines loudly and the victims responded by cursing at them and telling the suspects to go away.

The suspects then left, but returned a short while later armed with knives and swords. They rushed at the three victims and assaulted them with the bladed weapons before fleeing the scene.

The Chroy Changvar Military Police later arrested three of them and seized two motorbikes, two swords and two knives.

National Military Police spokesman Eng Hy declined to comment, citing an ongoing investigation.

MOST VIEWED

  • Wing Bank opens new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004

    Wing Bank celebrates first anniversary as commercial bank with launch of brand-new branch. One year since officially launching with a commercial banking licence, Wing Bank on March 14 launched a new branch in front of Orkide The Royal along Street 2004. The launch was presided over by

  • Girl from Stung Meanchey dump now college grad living in Australia

    After finishing her foundational studies at Trinity College and earning a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Melbourne in 2022, Ron Sophy, a girl who once lived at the Stung Meanchey garbage dump and scavenged for things to sell, is now working at a private

  • Ministry using ChatGPT AI to ‘ease workload’; Khmer version planned

    The Digital Government Committee is planning to make a Khmer language version of popular artificial intelligence (AI) technology ChatGPT available to the public in the near future, following extensive testing. On March 9, the Ministry of Post and Telecommunications revealed that it has been using the

  • Wat Phnom hornbills attract tourists, locals

    Thanks to the arrival of a friendly flock of great hornbills, Hour Rithy, a former aviculturist – or raiser of birds – in Kratie province turned Phnom Penh tuk tuk driver, has seen a partial return to his former profession. He has become something of a guide

  • PM urges end to ‘baseless’ international Ream base accusations

    Prime Minister Hun Sen urges an end to “baseless” foreign accusations surrounding the development of the Kingdom’s Ream Naval Base, as the US has consistently suggested that the base is being expanded to accommodate a Chinese military presence. Hun Sen renewed his calls while

  • Almost 9K tourists see equinox sunrise at Angkor Wat

    Nearly 9,000 visitors – including 2,226 international tourists – gathered at Angkor Wat on March 21 to view the spring equinox sunrise, according to a senior official of the Siem Reap provinical tourism department. Ngov Seng Kak, director of the department, said a total of 8,726 people visited Angkor Wat to