The Kandal provincial court on Friday charged and jailed a provincial police officer accused of attacking a man following a car accident and then attacking the victim’s brother-in-law while being questioned by Sa’ang district police.

Minor crime office chief at the Kandal provincial police Lak Mengthy identified the accused as Hen Lina, 31, a provincial police officer.

Lina is accused of rear-ending his first victim, An Vai, On January 25, while driving in the district.

After hitting the victim’s vehicle, he drove to the front of Vai’s car to prevent him from leaving the scene and then proceeded to assault him, Mengthy said.

“The case was caused by a traffic accident. While we were questioning him, criminal wrongdoing was found, after which we requested the prosecutor to take further legal action,” he noted.

According to local media, Sa’ang district police gathered the parties involved in the crash on the same night of the incident.

But while questioning them at the district police station, the accused became uncooperative and enraged. He is accused of then proceeding to attack Vai’s brother-in-law.

Lina aggressively shouted at the brother-in-law, cursing him and calling him a dog. He then pushed him to the ground and used a stone to hit him on the head, seriously injuring him.

Sa’ang district deputy police chief Lon Chantha said the small traffic accident exploded into a much bigger case.

The parties involved could not reach a compromise, the situation grew heated and then violent, he said.

He noted that according to footage of the crash, Lina hit the victim’s car, then got out of his own to kick the victim’s car and attack him.

Investigating Judge Ros Phon Channimol charged and jailed Hen Lina at the provincial prison for using intentional violence and causing intentional damage under the Articles 217 and 410 of Criminal Code.