Three men from Banteay Meanchey province were charged with attempted murder in provincial court on Wednesday, following their arrest for a sword attack on a Defense Ministry official from Phnom Penh, military police said Thursday.
Sroy Phal, 20, Heng Tong, 21, and Heng Tin, 21, attacked Eng Vanchea with swords on Tuesday night while the official was in the province’s O’Chrou district, said Men Phirom, the district’s military police deputy commander.
The attackers slashed their victim on the head and in the face and ear, but did not cut his neck, Men Phirom said. He added that the three men, who work as shoe-shiners, said they were paid $125 by a man named Ai Menghor, alias “Tiger,” to kill Eng Vanchea. The victim and Ai Menghor operated competing football-betting operations in the district, Men Phirom said.
Only the company CamboSix is authorized to run a football betting business in Cambodia, but numerous illegal betting parlors operate throughout the country.
Ai Menghor has fled to Thailand, Men Phirom said. Eng Vanchea has been evacuated to Thailand for medical care.
“Our [military] forces sent him to Thailand…he is in critical condition,” he said.
In an unrelated incident also involving swords, Kompong Speu provincial police are searching for three gang members suspected of slashing an 18-year-old man with swords, police said Wednesday.
Phuong Chap was attacked at around 8 pm on Saturday, near a wedding party in Samraong Tong district’s Samraong Tong commune, said district police chief Phat Kim Hong. The victim had seriously injuries to the neck and back, and is undergoing treatment at the provincial hospital, he said.
The motive for the sword attack is unknown, Phat Kim Hong said, adding that the victim was a mild-mannered man with no known enemies.
“Three boys were directly involved in the attack. We know their identities already,” he said.
