TWO men in Dangkor district have accused Krang Thnong commune police officers of beating them unconscious last week during a party celebrating the end of the rice harvest and detaining them for five days until their families paid US$600 for their release.

Sok Than, 28, one of the two men who were arrested, said the officers were drunk and fired shots in the air to warn other partygoers against coming to their aid.

His father, Chhom Chhoun, said he had given the $600 payment to officers on Thursday.

But commune police chief Mak Mey said the men had provoked the fight with the police officers, and denied that the officers had acted inappropriately.

“These two men were fighting during the dance, and so we brought them to the police station,” he said.