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.