Suspected murderers and armed robbers were among 10 arrested when police raided a house in the capital’s Sen Sok district yesterday morning, a village official told the Post.

Chhun Chanly, deputy chief of Trapaing Chhouk village, yesterday led reporters to a house he said police stormed after a young man tried – but failed – to shoot at them at about 3am.

“Police patrolling the village saw the man and asked him something, but he ran away and came back with a K-59 gun. He tried to shoot at police once, but his gun did not go off. Then they arrested him,” Chanly said.

The deputy village chief said police searched the man, a 19-year-old, and found a passport and motorcycle registration on him.

One police officer, who did not want to be named, said the suspect had robbed and killed a man for a motorbike.

The teenager was briefly questioned and soon directed police to a house where his alleged accomplices lived.

Police swooped on the premises, causing nine other men to try to flee.

Their escape was short-lived, however, and they were soon arrested, Chanly said.

“In my village, there has been no killing or crime like this before,” he said.

“I know these people who have been arrested are outsiders who like to come in and out of this area – they are not my people.”

Sen Sok district police said the first officers who arrived at the village had been trying to focus on busting drug dealers in the area, but got more than they bargained for when the 19-year-old tried to shoot at them.

Chhorn Sok, deputy district police chief, said he was not yet in a position to reveal the details of the arrests.

“We are now busy questioning the suspects,” he said.

A number of villagers who live near the raided house told the Post yesterday that they were too scared to talk about the men who had been arrested.