Plantation Worker Fatally Shot

A worker at the Chamcar An­doung rubber plantation was shot and killed while sleeping at home Saturday, just days after the plantation workers were ordered off their land by a court order.

Chhem Touch, 33, was killed by an intruder at around 1 am, ac­cording to police. He was shot once in the right side. His wife, who was sleeping next to him, was not injured.

“This was not a robbery,” said Kong Sokunn, provincial police chief for Kompong Cham pro­vince. “This was a revenge killing be­cause the killer didn’t take any of the victim’s property.”

The shooting in Village 35, Cham­car Andoung commune, Cham­car Leu district, comes days after the plantation workers were told to leave the village following a provincial court ruling.

Some workers had lived there for 16 years while working for the company. The company re­cently cut down the rubber trees and sold them off for processing.

A new tree crop was scheduled for planting, but it will be years before those trees will yield rubber for harvesting.

The shooter escaped after slaying Chhem Touch, police said.

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