Police in Tbong Khmum province arrested five teenagers Tuesday and Wednesday over their role in the brutal murder of a 16-year-old boy on Monday night.
Mab Nai was murdered with an ax shortly after fleeing a Pchum Ben party in Tbong Khmum district’s Thma Pich commune on a motorbike with a friend after an argument on the dance floor with another group of teenagers, district police chief Suor Siengly said.
Police discovered the boy’s body around midnight with about 10 ax wounds some 200 meters from the location of the party, after receiving a call from a security guard for a rubber plantation in the area, Mr. Siengly said.
He added that seven people followed the victim and his friend, who was driving a Honda Dream, when they left the festivities. Mab Nai’s friend managed to flee on foot, he said.
“Police have arrested five men; three were arrested on Tuesday and two were arrested [Wednesday],” Mr. Siengly said. “We will send them to court after we finish questioning them.”
The accused—who are being held at the district police station—were identified as Bath Seiha, Kim Yeng, Chuon Mon and Kong Seiha, all 16, and Vann Serei, 18.
According to Mr. Siengly, the Honda Dream that Mab Nai and his friend were driving is missing and believed to have been stolen after the murder.
During the arrests this week, police confiscated two motorbikes belonging to the suspects and an ax that they believe was the murder weapon, Mr. Siengly said, adding that police are still searching for two more suspects.
In April, a fight that started on a dance floor during a Khmer New Year party in Kandal province also led to the death of a reveler.
Police said Chorn Sros, 28, accidentally stepped on the foot of another man, who proceeded to shoot him twice in the chest, killing him.
