Three days after an alleged hitman threw two grenades at Military Police officials’ attempting to arrest him in Oddar Meanchey, security personnel finally apprehended the suspect on Monday after an extensive search of a forested area in Anlong Veng district.

On Saturday, Military Police officials in Oddar Meanchey identified Heab Thy, 48, as the suspect in a murder case in Kandal province, but when they and colleagues from Siem Reap Military Police surrounded his home in Ou’Tamaeng village he lobbed two grenades and started firing at them, said Nguon Thearith, commander of the Anlong Veng district Military Police.

Thy then fled the scene on a motorbike, which he later ditched to hide in a nearby forest, Thearith said.

“The suspect hid himself in the jungle after attacking the Military Police and it was difficult to search [for him], he said. “[After] spending three days to find him in the forest we successfully got him.”

The suspect was found with a K-59 pistol and six bullets, and was being held at the provincial Military Police headquarters.

Ouch Sim, a Military Police commander from Siem Reap, said that authorities were now looking for two others who lived with Heab. According to Anlong Veng Commune Chief Vong Pheak, one police officer was injured during the shootout on Saturday.