Police: Four held in death of 15-year-old, four more on the run

THE Takeo Prov incial Court charged four men on Saturday for k illing a 15-year-old boy in Trapaing Koh v illage, in Tram Kak district’s Trapaing Thom Khang Tbong commune.

Prov incia l crime office director Sem Socheat said on Sunday t hat Chhin Ly, 32, was t he leader of t he four and t hat investigating Judge Hong Song Heang charged and detained a ll of them in pre-t r ia l detention at t he prov incia l prison.

“The perpetrator was charged with murder under Article 199, and the other three for violence with aggravating circumstance under Article 218 of the Criminal Code,” he said.

Article 199 states t hat anyone found guilt y of murder faces up to 15 years in prison. The remaining three accused face up to five years in jail wit h fines of up to 10 million riel each.

Provincial prosecutor Chiv Chandara declined to comment on the matter.

Tram Kak dist rict police chief Duk Thya said on Februar y 22, a group of eight gangsters had an argument with a smaller t wo-person gang.

The two fled the scene on a motorbike but one of the eight, Chhin Ly, shot Doeun Mao, 15, in the head with a slingshot, causing him to crash.

Mao died from injuries while being transported to t he dist r ict hospita l. The other v ictim, Nob Bunthy, 15, was a lso attacked and suffered a broken hand.

Takeo police coordinated with The Ministry of Interior’s crime department to locate the ringleader and his accomplices. They were arrested last week in Phnom Penh, where they had fled. “Now, we are searching for the remaining four suspects,” he said.

In a separate case, police sent a 22-year-old man to the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Sunday for stabbing a security guard to death with a knife in the capital’s Boeung Keng Kang district on Thursday, district police chief Sim Piseth said.

He said the victim and the suspect worked together at CSC, a private security company. He confessed that he killed the victim because he was furious with him after he insulted him and that he looked like a drug user. Drugs were found in the victim’s system after police tested his urine.