Drug Suspect Captured After Kandal Shootout
Kandal Province: After an operation to crack down on drug crimes in Thkol Village, Troeuy Sla Commune, Saang District, Kandal Province, turned into an armed siege, police finally arrested a suspect at 2 am on November 11, 2020.
The suspect, named as Lean Tith, fired shots at the Saang District Police Force, Provincial Anti-Drug Police Force and the Provincial Criminal Police Force after forces moved in to surround him.
The suspect released his wife in the early stages of the siege. Later, the governors of Kandal province, Saang district governor and Major General Chhoeun Socheat used measures to persuade the suspects surrender.
After a series of shots were fired with AK-47 assault rifles on the police, Kandal Provincial Police Commissioner Major General Chhoeun Socheat, who led the force directly into the operation, used strategies to end the siege peacefully. The first phase freed the suspect’s wife from where she was hiding, to avoid her being used as a hostage.
Major General Chhoeun Socheat, Kandal Provincial Police Commissioner, said “After liberating and detaining the wife of the suspect, and finding measures for the suspect’s son to leave the house…. forces also tried to evacuate the suspect from the scene to the home of the suspect’s parents. During (this time) the suspect fired several shots at the police, and also set fire to the house to deceive the police to find a way to escape. But the suspect left the burnt house and hid in his parents’ house.”
After receiving information with the most careful research from Major General Chhoeun Socheat, Kandal Provincial Police Commissioner, the suspected drug dealer was arrested at 2 am on November 11. 2020, with the participation of the Governor of Kandal Province. The governor of Saang district also called the suspect to hand over the weapon to the authorities, with the assurance he would not be detained or prosecuted. The authorities also guaranteed to repair the house he had burned down.
Separately, the wife of the suspect who was released and taken by the police also tried to call her husband to confess and stop using firearms against the police. Eventually, the suspect was successfully arrested and brought to the Kandal Provincial Police in the middle of the night for interrogation and will continue to investigate. NKD
*It doesn’t say how, but images appear to show the suspect being taken away in ambulance with a leg wound.
UPDATE: More than 10 bullets were fired at the police and it was confirmed a suspect was shot in the left leg, causing injuries.
The suspect is currently being treated at Takhmao Victory Hospital for further treatment and proceedings.
