Police offer rewards for tipoffs

via CAAI

Wednesday, 15 December 2010 15:01 Chrann Chamroeun

KAMPONG Cham provincial police have announced a more than 1 million riel [about US$247] reward for information leading to the capture of a 27-year-old woman accused of kidnapping and extortion who has escaped from police custody.

Chem Seng Hong, deputy provincial police chief, said yesterday that he was confident that the woman – who is accused of kidnapping a 6-year-old girl and demanding a $20,000 ransom – would be found.

“We hope that pretty soon we will arrest the accused woman, which is not much of a worry as we know her background as a prostitute, and she is not a professional kidnapper or robber,” he said.

The woman was arrested in a Phnom Penh bank on Sunday while waiting for the ransom money, which had been negotiated down to $12,000, to be transferred by the girl’s parents. She allegedly escaped from custody by climbing through a gap 25-centimeters high between the wall and roof of a police station bathroom the following day.

Chem Seng Hong said police were offering a reward of 1 million riels “to people who tip off good information about the suspect’s whereabouts, and will give more than this once the suspect is apprehended”.

Robber evidence soughtIn an unrelated case, Toul Kork district governor yesterday announced a 5 million riel [about $1,234] reward offered for information leading to the arrest of two men suspected of a string of brutal armed robberies in Phnom Penh.

District deputy governor Saing Sophak Vichet said officials hoped the reward money would be “a big amount for our people” and encourage dresidents to “be brave enough to report” any pertinent information to police.