After a four-hour standoff, police yesterday fired four tear gas canisters into a Kampot province home to subdue a man accused of slicing the throat of a microfinance institution worker.

Officers arrived at the Chhouk district home of Brok Vet, 47, at about 12pm yesterday after neighbours reported the father of two had allegedly killed a man, later identified as Chim Borin, a 26-year-old Amret Microfinance Institution employee.

“Our police surrounded the house to catch the suspect, who had climbed up on the roof for nearly four hours,” said Kampot provincial police chief Mao Chanmakthurith.

“We decided to use tear gas grenades because the suspect had a sword in his hand and we didn’t want to expose the police to danger.”

After subduing Vet, whose wife, son and daughter were not at home, officers discovered Borin’s body with its throat cut.

The victim was on a routine call to collect money, according to Chanmakthurith.

Though yet to ascertain a motive, Chanmakthurith said a member of Vet’s family had told police the suspect was mentally ill and appeared “possessed” in the days before the attack.

Choun Sokha, chief of Trameng commune, said the suspect, who will face further questioning at the provincial court, was a regular customer of Amret, whose staff visited monthly.

“He did not tell us if he was saving or borrowing money; it’s a personal thing,” Sokha said.

Amret’s Kampot branch declined to comment.