Police confirmed on Thursday that five police officers from Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district were arrested this week, but refused to offer any details and told reporters to let police handle their own business.
“Five were arrested for committing a crime,” Sen Sok police chief Mok Hong said when asked about police being arrested. “I can’t comment further.”
The Khmer-language Kampuchea Thmey newspaper said the five officers were arrested on Saturday night and sent to Phnom Penh municipal police headquarters on Tuesday.
Municipal police chief Chuon Sovann refused to talk about the case.
“Why do you ask?” he said. “It’s the discipline of police so let the police deal with it. I don’t have any comments for the media.”
The government-aligned Fresh News service said the police chief had personally ordered the arrests of the officers after receiving a complaint that they had shaken down teenagers at night.
“Five police officers riding three motorcycles forced two teenagers to give them money—pawn their motorcycles to get money,” a Fresh News report said.
