Ratanakkiri provincial military police sent a 26-year-old man to court after he was held on Sunday for allegedly attempting to kill a military policeman who was intervening in a forest crime at Pak Touch village, in O’Yadav district’s Som Thom commune, in the province.

Provincial military police commander Thav Yen said on Monday that the suspect, who is a Jarai indigenous man living in the district, was arrested and sent to court for further legal action after a military police official pressed charges of attempted murder.

“The suspect has already been questioned. The court will make a decision whether or not to detain him,” said Yen who declined to identify the complainant.

O’Yadav district military police commander Sok Min said that earlier in March, military police officials from the district and the national military police were patrolling the forest when they saw five people transporting timber on three motorbikes.

He said the officials were aware that the timber was loaded illegally to sell in Vietnam, and when they tried to intervene, the suspects produced steel rods and moved in to attack the officials. “Luckily the officials were able to escape uninjured,” he said.

After the incident, the military police then carried out a week-long investigation, before requesting interventions from the court. The court then assigned deputy prosecutor Leang Ou to work on the case.

With approval from Leang Ou, the military police arrested the suspect on March 15. He is also said to have tested positive for drugs after the arrest. “The case concerns the attempted murder of an official from the national military police,” he said.

He said they were also looking for another four suspects in connection with the case, and that after the incident, some of the perpetrators were suspected to have escaped to neighbouring Vietnam.