The son and grandson of a village chief in Prey Veng province are among six men who have now been arrested over the fatal beating of a 33-year-old laborer over the weekend, according to police.
Seng Roatthy died of major head trauma in front of his home in Peamro district on Sunday night after some 20 men set upon him with wooden planks and a metal crowbar.
The mob had pursued Seng Roatthy toward his house after he shoved the grandson of a local village chief into a drainage ditch during an argument.
Police arrested four of the attackers that night and detained two more on Monday, district police chief Seng Ponlok said on Tuesday. One of them, he said, is a son of the chief of Prek Khsay Khor commune’s Village 6, Pang Sary.
“When they confessed that they too hit the victim, we decided to detain them immediately, and we are still hunting for the other suspects,” he said.
Mr. Ponlok refused to name the pair, but Phouk Sary, the chief of Nak Loeung commune—where the beating occurred—identified the village chief’s son as “Barang,” and added that the grandson, Vireak Den, was among the four arrested late Sunday night.
All six suspects were being held on Tuesday at the district police station.
