Four armed men were fatally shot after they allegedly attempted to rob and kidnap a wealthy family living in the Borey Angkor gated community in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, according to the municipal Military Police.

A report on its official Facebook page did not reveal the identities of the armed group or the family. It said only that the group, armed with a modern AK-47 automatic rifle and two pistols, had planned to kidnap the house owners for a million-dollar ransom and then kill them as well as two people working in the house.

The report said the robbers had fired many shots at Military Police officers who immediately returned fire in self-defence, killing the them at the scene. The house owners and officers were unharmed.

However, the report did not provide any details as to how the officers knew about the case before intervening in time.

Neither National Military Police spokesman Eng Hy nor municipal Military Police deputy commanders Maing Soklux and Pou Davy could be reached for comment.

Municipal Military Police commander Rath Sreang, who led the operation, referred The Post reporters to local media outlet Fresh News when reached for comment on March 1.

Municipal police spokesman San Sok Seiha and Sen Sok district police chief Hour Meng Vang also declined to comment, saying they had not been involved in the operation and referred questions to the municipal Military Police.

A Military Police officer who asked not to be named told The Post that the house owners knew in advance of the kidnappers’ intentions and thus had sought protection beforehand. He said one of the armed men used to work for the family.