Back on the street

Two suspects – one a military policeman and son of a military police deputy commander, and the other his cousin – were released on bail Tuesday night after being charged with theft by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for allegedly stealing a gold necklace, police said yesterday.

Chamkarmon district police officer Dy Sarom said that Ly Sona Pheaktra, 21, son of Phnom Penh Municipal Military Police deputy commander Ly Khatsay, and his cousin Phen Panharith, 20, “were released by the deputy prosecutor Meas Chan Piseth on Tuesday in accordance with the bail guarantee from their families”.

Sarom said she was unsure of the bail amount, and referred questions to Chan Piseth, who could not be reached. Sona Pheaktra and Panharith are accused of snatching a gold chain from the neck of a young woman on her motorbike in Phnom Penh’s Tuol Kork district, causing her to lose control of the bike and crash.

Police believe the necklace was passed off to two other suspects, who remain at large.