Five alleged ringleaders of illegal cockfighting matches in Kampong Speu’s Kong Pisei district, including a Phnom Penh police captain, were summonsed to court yesterday for questioning over illegal gambling and preventing public authorities from enforcing the law following a standoff against outnumbered police who attempted to raid a cockfight earlier this month.

Provincial police chief Sam Samoun said he received the summonses and his officials would deliver them to those involved. Kheng Sokha of the Phnom Penh municipal police’s economic crime unit is among the five called to court. In videos of the January 24 incident posted on social media, Sokha can allegedly be heard berating local officials during the confrontation.

Kampong Speu provincial prosecutor Keo Sothea said the summonses are valid for a month but declined to provide further details. Samoun, however, said “there are three people in Kampong Speu and two in Phnom Penh, and they are all [the] masterminds” behind the operation.