Kambol district police are searching for a group of five men who robbed a garment worker and took her motorbike on Wednesday in Taphem village, Kambol commune, in the capital’s Kambol district.

Kambol commune police chief Phan Phoeun said on Thursday that the woman, Thim Srey Nich is a 32-year-old widow who lives in Saloung village, Kambol commune. She was riding her 2018 Honda Dream to work alone at around 6am on a quiet road in Taphem village.

Five men on two motorbikes followed her and two of them pushed her off her motorbike, which caused the vehicle to fall on the ground. Then they took her motorbike and escaped without harming her.

The scene of the robbery, which is about 3km from the village, is usually quiet with few road users passing by, so commune police had been patrolling the area. Phoeun had been patrolling the area when he found the victim shortly after the incident.

He called the police network in neighbouring districts for immediate action, but the suspects had already escaped. “The scene is one of the locations we patrol because crimes happen there. We are looking for the suspects,” he said.

The victim, who lives with her son and daughter, aged three and six respectively, told police that she took a bank loan to buy the motorbike and had not yet settled the balance.

Kambol district police chief Hang Mony said the police had identified the suspects and found out that they are also linked to suspects in other cases in the area who had been arrested by police.

“They have been targeted by police and we have arrested some members of their group before. We are working hard to arrest them,” he said.