Kirth Chantharith, director-general of the General Immigration Department, spoke to the media at Ministry of Interior last year. Hong Menea
The Ministry of Interior’s General Department of Immigration has temporarily suspended Lieutenant Colonel Mok Bun Chheang and one-star Brigadier General Kong Narith while it investigates alleged “irregular activities” on a recent mission, department spokesperson Ath Bunny said.
The decision came after the government issued a sub-decree promoting two senior officials at the department.
Uk Hai Seila, former head of the Investigation and Procedure Department at the General Department of Immigration takes the role of deputy director-general of the General Department of Immigration, with Vatanak Mongkul replacing him.
Bunny told The Post on Tuesday that General Department of Immigration director-general Kirth Chantharith had issued a letter suspending Bun Chheang and Narith, both deputy directors at the Investigation and Procedure Department, and announcing an investigation into their activities during their mission on May 22.
Bunny did not provide details of the pair’s alleged irregular activities.
“The letter mentioned the reason. That is all the information I have because we are still working on the case,” he said.
The letter issued by Chantharith last Friday ordered Bun Chheang and Narith to appear at the General Department of Administration during working hours but did not mention the reason for their suspension.
A senior General Department of Immigration official, who asked not to be named, told The Post that they were punished because they did not control and monitor their subordinates during the May mission to ensure they followed the National Police’s moral guidelines.
“Not only those two people. The rules apply to anybody that fails to control and manage [their subordinates] during operations or does anything that damages the reputation of the National Police,” the source said.
In January, the National Police arrested a one-star Brigadier General and four anti-counterfeiting police officers in Teuk Thla commune in Phnom Penh’s Sen Sok district, but they were released after questioning.
The arrests were made because the men allegedly failed to cooperate with or report to senior officials.
