Spate of Thefts Unnerves Kandal Residents

A plague of armed robberies in Phnom Penh have forced authorities to increase security in Kandal to crack down on the crime wave, officials said Thursday.

Police have set up 10 posts at Samrong Krum commune, Dang­­kao district, in response to eight recent armed robberies in the northern district in Phnom Penh, said Soun Samoeun, police chief at the Samrong Krum police post. He said villagers in some remote area have begun sleeping in groups at night for safety.

“Although villagers do not yet feel safe, we are trying our best for them,” he said. “We are patrol­ling in these areas with the cooperation of the villagers from 8 pm to 2 am every night.”

Choup Sok Heng, deputy po­lice chief for Dangkao district, said Phnom Penh police have also begun working with provincial police in Kandal province.

“We vow to crack down on those armed robbers with close cooperation with the Kandal policemen because our villagers are suffering from them,” Choup Sok Heng said.

Vein Siven, district police officer in Ang Snoul district, said Kan­dal experienced many armed robberies in September and confirmed that they were working with Dangkao police because the bandits probably have moved to Dangkao district.

“Our remote villages are the former Khmer Rouge zone and was used for fighting for two decades of civil war, but now the location is a good area for the armed robbers,” he said.

 

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