Police Searching For 3 More Suspects
A 31-year-old former soldier was arrested Sunday by military police and is scheduled to be charged at municipal court today in connection with the two hotel bombings that shook Phnom Penh Wednesday, killing three and injuring 11, police said Monday.
Chriek Moa was presented to news reporters chained at both the hands and legs Monday afternoon at Military Police Headquarters. He was arrested on the way to his home in Kompong Cham province and is one of four suspects police said they are pursuing.
“I cannot say if this created a big sound in order to create turmoil in the city or for extortion,” a calm Chriek Moa told reporters Monday. “If the policemen arrest all of my group, then you will know.”
Sim Hong, deputy municipal chief of military police, said Chriek Moa and the other three suspects, when they are arrested, will be charged with murder, the illegal use of ammunition and weapons, and creating turmoil.
He said police have not yet concluded that the blasts were motivated by extortion or terrorism. “Everybody in the world wanted to know, who created the terrorists?” Sim Hong said. “But even the Thai prime minister hasn’t yet found out who the terrorists are that bombed Thai Airways.”
Sim Hong said one of Chriek Moa’s accomplices showed his driver’s license when he checked into the Favour Hotel last Tuesday. From the information recorded by a hotel clerk, police were able to find Chriek Moa, Sim Hong said.
Chriek Moa said an army general promised $100,000 to him and the three other men to carry out the bombings.
Sim Hong said Chriek Moa, a resident of Prey Chhor district in Kompong Cham, confessed to taking part in the planning of the bombings. The four suspects began preparing one month ago, performing test explosions in Prey Chhor on June 11 and 12, Sim Hong said.
The four bought 20 kg of TNT, fertilizer and other supplies at Phsar Tuk Thla in Phnom Penh last month, Sim Hong said. Police displayed items, which they said were used to make the bombs, on a conference room table Monday.
On July 1, one suspect checked into the Tico Hotel on Sihanouk Boulevard to coordinate planning, police said.
Last Tuesday, the suspect checked into Room 410 at the Favour Hotel, Sim Hong said. On the same day, another suspect checked into Room 108 at the Hong Kong Hotel, he said. Both men checked out Wednesday morning, hours before the blasts.
Wednesday’s first explosion went off in Room 108 at the Hong Kong Hotel at about 11 am. A call to the Favour about 40 minutes later warned that a bomb had been left in Room 410 and would be detonated if $200,000 was not paid.
Two hotel staff and a policeman died when that bomb exploded at 12:05 pm.
Chriek Moa said he was the driver of a Toyota Camry that brought the homemade bombs to Phnom Penh. The bombs were made at Chriek Moa’s house, he said, with another suspect serving as the expert on how to make the bombs.
Four people questioned by police late last week will not be charged, police said Monday.
Police have described the explosions at the Hong Kong and Favour hotels as acts of extortion. Callers to the Favour after the blasts also demanded large sums of cash. A number of callers spoke to police claiming to belong to a group called Maria.
