Three villagers from Preah Vihear involved in a land dispute with agro-industrial firm FP Malaysia say they plan on suing a soldier employed by the company who they say shot in the air at least six times to threaten them to stop protesting.

Koy Chamroeun, 25, told the Post that company representative and soldier Sok Arun called him and two other villagers to FP Malaysia’s district office on August 31 and tried to persuade them to drop their protests in exchange for $200 a month.

“He tried to bribe us to work for the company so we would stop the protests and receive salaries. But we disagreed,” Chamroeun said.

The refusal allegedly made Sok Arun furious, and he shot six times in the air as the villagers were making their way home.

“Sok Arun threatened that if someone stood against him, he will shoot them in the head and pay only $5,000 in compensation,” Chamroeun continued

The villagers filed a complaint with the Preah Vihear office of rights group Adhoc on Friday demanding 18 million riel ($4,500) in compensation from the soldier.

According to an ID card which the villagers and Adhoc uploaded to Facebook, Sok Arun is a lieutenant in the military.