A police officer was suspended for blocking local authorities’ attempts to close down his cockfighting ring in Kompong Speu province and threatening fellow police officers, an official said.
Kheng Sokha, an economic police officer from the Phnom Penh municipal police, was suspended temporarily from his job on Sunday and will be moved to the personnel department in the Interior Ministry, provincial police chief Sam Samoun said.
On Tuesday, a group of 20 police officers arrived at a cockfighting ring owned by Mr. Sokha.
“Mr. Sokha gave an order to our police officials to sit down, but we did not listen to him,” Mr. Samoun said.
The local officers fired their weapons into the air twice, causing about 60 people to flee from the premises, he said.
Mr. Sokha threatened the officers, alleging he had an AK-47 assault rifle in his car, and police left the site without arresting anyone, Mr. Samoun said.
The provincial court is set to issue a warrant today summoning five people connected to the cockfighting ring, including Mr. Sokha.
Mr. Sokha could not be reached for comment.
