The elder son of tycoon Duong Ngiep has joined his younger brother and his brother’s bodyguard in pre-trial detention after being charged by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Friday for his alleged involvement in a violent assault at a Chamkarmon district restaurant, police said yesterday.

Choun Narin, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh Municipal Police, said Duong Otdom Chhorvin, also known as Duong Chhay, 20, son of immigration police official Oknha Duong Ngiep, was handed down a trio of charges by the court, and detained at municipal police headquarters.

“Duong Chhay was also charged by court with three charges: causing injury, destroying property and illegal weapons possession. He was sent by the Phnom Penh court’s investigating judge to be detained along with his younger brother, Duong Kimlong, and his bodyguard in [the municipal police’s provisional jail] in Phnom Penh,” Narin said.

The three are accused of engaging in a brawl with six other patrons of a Phnom Penh restaurant during Khmer New Year. According to police, Kimlong produced a gun during the fight, struck another man with it, then threatened to shoot his cohorts. Kimlong, Chhay and bodyguard Ly Rayuth then reportedly escaped, smashing up the restaurant on their way out.

Kimlong and Rayuth were arrested later at a condominium with three illegal weapons. Chhay was brought to the court by his father last Thursday and turned himself in.

According to Narin, the court has also issued arrest warrants for two other suspects in the melee – identified only by their nicknames, Sna and Mab – who are still at large.