Two Chinese nationals have been charged with abandonment of weapons in a public place after a grenade was discovered outside of the NagaWorld casino complex last week.
Phnom Penh Municipal Court spokesman, Plang Sophal, confirmed on Thursday that the court had charged one man and one woman under Article 491. If found guilty, they could face between six months and three years in prison.
On the morning of December 15, a street cleaner discovered the live grenade wrapped up with a cake on National Assembly boulevard across from the casino. CMAC detonated it on site and no one was injured.
Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said that four Chinese nationals and one Cambodian woman had initially been detained for questioning but that three of them were discovered to have no involvement.
“These three are not involved in the investigation, so we release them free. And we will continue to investigate based on the answers of the two suspects,” Mr. Sopheak said. “This is not the end of the round,” he said.
He added that it was clear the grenade was “not linked to terrorism or politics.”
Sopheak said that the grenade could be related to an attempted murder or death threat, saying that security cameras showed the package had fallen from under a luxury car — leading police to believe it may have been strapped there with the intention of being set off later.
Rasmei Kampuchea News quoted a senior official at the Interior Ministry saying YANG JIAKANG, 26 and TU LINAN, 23, were sent to the court for further questioning.
All five suspects were arrested by the police on the evening of December 15 at an apartment located in Phnom Penh’s Chbar Ampov district.
(Additional reporting by Khuon Narim)
