Kampong Speu provincial criminal police are searching for suspects involved in the murder of a man in the forest of Thmey village in Phnom Sruoch district’s Chambak commune. Villagers found the burning body on February 28.

Provincial deputy police chief in charge of crime Sam Sak told The Post that authorities were investigating the case to identity the victim and perpetrators.

He said an autopsy revealed that the victim had been tortured before being burned.

“Until now, authorities haven’t been able to identify the body. We are also searching for who did this and how many people were involved,” he said.

Citing initial results of the autopsy, Sak said the victim was about 25 years old, had long hair, and had been severely burned. He said the victim had been wrapped in a white and blue nylon mat.

Phok Sambath, head of the provincial police’s autopsy bureau, said the body had gems in the upper right-teeth, wore a white shirt with a red T-shirt inside. Apart from the burns, there were eight stab wounds to the chest and extensive bruising to the head.

District police chief Say Bunthon said the victim’s body was found by villagers at around 1pm on February 28 while it was still burning.