One Cambodian man is believed to have been shot dead and two others injured on Oct 3 when Thai border guards spotted them pushing a pickup truck towards Cambodia from just inside Thai territory, Banteay Meanchey province officials said Sunday.
The shooting began about 2 km from the border in Sa Keo province when 10 men were seen pushing a stolen truck towards the border after turning off its engine so as not to alert Thai border guards, said Ngorl Kuok, police chief for Svay Chek district.
Police suspect that two men in the group had hired the others to help them transport a stolen vehicle across the border. Those two, according to police, are suspected of involvement in a cross-border automobile-theft ring.
One 48-year-old man, known only to police as “Kom,” was believed killed, and Chhum Chhat, 31, and Don Rin, 42, sustained bullet wounds in their legs, Ngorl Kuok said.
“We do not know where the body is,” he said. “His family and the villagers are looking for the body.”
According to a provincial deputy police chief, the two men injured in the shooting were questioned by Cambodian police, but have since been released to seek medical treatment.
Svay Chek District Governor Soeng Phon said that the shooting marks the first time in about a year that Thai border guards had killed a Cambodian.
Officials at the Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh could not be reached for comment Sunday.
