A 30-year-old police first lieutenant was sent to Kampot Provincial Court with nine others on Tuesday for beating a petrol station attendant, seriously injuring him, in Kampot town’s Kraing Ampil commune.

The 18-year-old victim was hit twice in the forehead and head with a set of handcuffs in the assault on Monday.

Eight small packages of drugs were found when police arrested the suspects and searched their cars after the victim’s colleague reported the assault.

Kampot provincial police chief Mao Chanmathurith told The Post on Tuesday that the suspect, from Kandal province’s Takhmao town, is a deputy unit chief at the Interior Ministry’s Central Public Order Department.

“The first lieutenant and his nine accomplices were sent to Kampot Provincial Court on Tuesday after questioning,” Chanmathurith said.

The nine others arrested, from Phnom Penh, Kampong Cham, Takeo and Kandal provinces, were aged between 20 and 29 years old and included university students. Three women were detained.

Chanmathurith said a Lexus SUV and a Toyota Camry carrying 10 people stopped for petrol at a Total garage in Kampot town on Monday.

The policeman asked the petrol station attendant to fill his car with $50 of petrol, but he could only put in $44 worth because the tank was full, he said.

The victim was then told to find a container to hold the remaining $6 of fuel, but he replied that he did not have any.

The policeman became enraged and assaulted the attendant, Chanmathurith said.