A Phnom Penh man is recovering in hospital under police supervision after being shot during a drug raid that took place on Saturday afternoon.

Thirty-five-year-old Touch Makara was shot in the chest by police during what was described as part of an ongoing crackdown on drug dens in the capital’s Stung Meanchey district.

“The [Ministry of Interior’s] Anti-Drug Department conducted an operation on Saturday afternoon in Meanchey district and injured one man who had to be sent to the hospital,” said district police chief Teng Sino.

Khieu Saman, chief of the Anti-Drug Trafficking Department, yesterday said “the case is still in progress but we have arrested the suspect and confiscated a lot of drugs.”

Local media outlet Fresh News reported the injured suspect had been unarmed at the time of the shooting, but police yesterday would not confirm or deny that assertion.

When asked about the shooting, Saman would say only that “there was a confrontation and a gun was fired and hit the suspect, so we took him for treatment”.

He added that authorities are still in pursuit of other suspects.