Tiger Head mastermind recaptured in Siem Reap after jail break

Long arm of law nabs Ek

SOM Ek, leader of the antigovernment Tiger Head Movement and convicted mastermind of a plot in 2009 to bomb the Ministry of Defence, was rearrested yesterday morning after escaping from custody earlier this month having served less than eight years of prison sentences spanning decades.

Ek, who had been jailed at Phnom Penh’s PJ prison but fled after his family allegedly drugged the guards watching over him while he was in hos- pital, was arrested in Siem Reap’s Svay Leu district, said Khnang Phnom commune police chief Long Ngeak.

Ngeak said that provincial police had informed local authorities Ek was believed to be in the area and arrested him shortly thereafter as he attempt- ed to go into hiding on Kulen mountain.

“He just arrived at the mountain this morning, but after receiving information from the provincial authorities, the local authorities did not notice him,” Ngeak said. “He was wearing his cap lying on the hammock, and he had turned his cap to cover him.”

The officer did not say how the provincial police knew Ek was in the area but that when six of them arrived at about 10am, they were the ones to finally spot CONTINUED

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