A Kampong Chhnang prison guard was questioned yesterday on suspicion of facilitating an inmate’s escape, officials said.

Pao Vuthy, director of Kampong Chhnang prison, said that one of his staff was called in for further questioning yesterday afternoon over his role in 30-year-old Ear Tal’s escape from incarceration on Tuesday evening.

Tal had already served half of his five-year sentence for stealing a motorbike when he broke out of the jail by sawing the bars off of his cell’s window.

“After questioning [prison staff] on Wednesday and Thursday morning, the provincial police brought a prison guard to their office for more questioning because … he [the suspect] brought the saw to Ear Tal,” he explained.

Pol Vuthy, a deputy provincial police chief, declined to name the guard, but confirmed that he stands accused of “giving tools to illegally release the prisoner”.

Tal was still at large yesterday evening.

Rights group Licadho said Tal was the sixth inmate it was aware of who had escaped from prison so far this year, compared to three escapes recorded by the group last year. In 2012, a guard in Kampong Cham provincial prison was arrested on suspicion of facilitating the escape of six inmates.