A officer in the National Economic Police Department who had been under consideration for promotion to two different high government posts was shot dead at about 7:30 pm Thursday as he slept at his home on Kampuchea Krom Boulevard.
Captain Chea Sereybot was shot three times by an assailant who used a K-59 gun fitted with a silencer, said Chea Sereyvat, the victim’s brother.
Because a silencer was used, Chea Sereybot’s wife did not realize her husband had been shot until she saw him bleeding, said Bel Bunthy, the victim’s brother-in-law.
Chea Sereybot recently told his brother he feared for his life after receiving an anonymous telephone call offering him $10,000 if he agreed to remove himself from consideration for one of the positions.
Chea Sereybot had said there were many people competing to be an assistant to co-Minister of Interior Sar Kheng, Chea Sereyvat said. Chea Sereybot was also a candidate to be chief of three road checkpoints, where economic police inspect goods being shipped by truck and car.
Bel Bunthy said two young men—one of whom was holding a gun—reportedly were seen by a young neighbor walking out of Chea Sereybot’s building near the corner of Kampuchea Krom and Mao Tse-tung boulevards.
