Two migrant farmworkers were arrested and sent to Battambang provincial prison, accused of intentionally burning a total of about 123 hectares of rice paddy, police said Tuesday, though the two men maintained the fires were accidental.
Proeun Saroeun, 45, from Siem Reap province was arrested Dec 23 for starting a fire in Battambang’s Thmar Koul district by cooking in the drought-stricken fields, police said. The fire destroyed 102 hectares of rice paddy.
In a separate case, Pursat province native Sim Puoch, 37, was arrested Dec 26 after a fire ignited 21 hectares of rice paddy when he threw a burning cigarette onto the ground.
Battambang minor crimes police Chief Prum Thean said his officers made the arrests because the men were seen intentionally burning the rice.
Both farmworkers were hired to help landowners harvest the rice for payment of about 10,000 riel for every 30 square meters cleared, he said. If found guilty, they face up to three years in prison, in addition to compensation payments for the lost harvest, Prum Thean said.
Provincial Prosecutor Yam Yet said Tuesday that he is trying to determine whether the fires were intentional.
“The suspects said they are innocent and they had no intention to burn,” he said. “They said they were just negligent.”
A series of fires has erupted in Battambang and Banteay Meanchey provinces over the past week. Provincial officials and disaster management authorities say that a nationwide drought has made rice fields more susceptible to fires.
Migrant workers cooking and smoking in the fields have also been blamed, causing some to flee out of fear of retribution.
After one fire in Banteay Meanchey province’s Mongkol Borei district on Friday, a family fled after their two boys, ages 5 and 6, were accused of starting a blaze that consumed some 450 hectares of rice paddy, said Sin Narak, Mongkol Borei district police chief, on Sunday.
He said the parents were afraid they would be arrested and ordered to pay compensation.
