Major General Ros Ossa was relieved of his position according to a government decree obtained yesterday, months after his name had been linked to a fatal high-profile gunfight during a drug raid.

“The government has decided to remove Major General Ros Ossa from his position as deputy secretary-general at the Ministry of Interior’s political affairs secretariat … All previous statements that contradict this sub-decree are invalidated,” reads the decree, signed by Prime Minister Hun Sen on November 17.

In April, police raided a duck restaurant that officials claimed was a front for a drug-trafficking operation.

One officer and one suspect, Lim Kim Teng, were killed in the exchange. Police originally reported confiscating an Audi with police plates, while defendants claimed the slain Kim Teng was actually a police officer. During the trial in November, there was no mention of the Audi, with the judge instead claiming police confiscated a Lexus and a Highlander.

Local media had linked Ossa to the raid, saying the Audi that was found at the scene of the shootout had previously belonged to him. He had allegedly sold the vehicle to the accused drug dealers prior to the police raid in April.

Ministry Spokesman Khieu Sopheak, declined to elaborate on the reasons for Ros’s dismissal. “When the sub-decree states that, that’s what it is … this is the end of his position.”