A 71-year-old CPP village council member and his wife were hacked to death in Siem Reap province early Wednesday morning, officials said, marking the second killing of a CPP official in less than two weeks.
Kreal Bun, 71, was chopped once in the right temple while his wife, 70-year-old Nov Uth, was hacked twice on the head by an unidentified assailant who used an ax, said Ou Em, bureau chief for the Siem Reap provincial police.
The two victims lived with three relatives in Thnorl Tortoeng village, Banteay Srei district, police said. The three relatives, who were sleeping at the time of the killing, alerted villagers to the crime by screaming, police said.
“[The killings] might be related to politics because people supported [Kreal Bun] in his job and others opposed him,” Ou Em said on Thursday.
According to officials, Kreal Bun practiced traditional magic to cure the illnesses of villagers in the area and Nov Uth worked as a money lender, leading officials to also consider the motive for the killings to be business-related.
Police currently have identified one suspect who lives in Thnorl Tortoeng village, but lack evidence and have not yet arrested that person. The authorities are also waiting for the provincial court to issue an arrest warrant.
Prey Veng provincial police late Wednesday arrested a suspect in the killing of CPP commune official Him Soeun, who was hacked to death on Dec 1 in Lvea commune, Preah Sdach district.
Police, acting on a warrant issued by the Prey Veng provincial court, arrested Chea Moeun, 60, at his home in Thnort Chruos village, said Chan Prakab, deputy police chief of Prey Veng province in charge of judicial police. Police are still searching for another suspect, he said.
“The witness [said] the suspect had a personal dispute with the victim,” Chan Prakab said. “It seems not involved in politics because the suspect is not a political activist.”
