In a strange case involving the vagaries of fate, business territory and the occult, police have arrested a fortune teller in Kampong Cham on homicide charges.

His victim, police said, was a rival fortune teller, apparently unable to foresee, and thus avoid, the coming crime.

Chim Seng Hong, deputy police commissioner in Kampong Cham, said the suspect, Sieng Song, 51, was arrested in Kroch Chhmar district on Monday, where he allegedly returned four months after the killing in May.

According to police, the suspect confessed that he stole an AK-47 from a police officer and shot the fortune teller to death in Kang Meas district, then fled to Thailand.

Song allegedly told the police that the motive for the crime was a business rivalry, and that the victim, Sem Aun, 53, harboured ill intentions against him.

The suspect returned home on Sunday evening and police surrounded the property that night before arresting him the following morning.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kim Sarom at [email protected]