Battambang escapee nabbed

[geovalin]

Taing Vida

After enjoying life on the outside for more than two years, an escapee from Battambang Provincial Prison was caught on Saturday morning, police said.

Nou Poline, 32, was one of five prisoners who made a run for it in April 2012 after being moved into a minimum-security room reserved for the sick at the prison.

The men had lung infections, a provincial military police official said at the time, and their loud coughing was disturbing other prisoners.

Poline did not travel far, seeing as he was arrested in the same province. Chet Vanny, deputy police commissioner in Battambang, said Poline was caught at 8am on Saturday morning in the province’s Kors Kralor district.

“Police have investigated and looked for this guy since 2012, but then in the last few days we heard from villagers that he stayed around here so we could capture him again,” he explained.

None of the others who initially escaped have been caught, but police are still looking for them, Vanny said.

They are Keo Long, 28, Nhong Ry, 40, Sam Sophat, 33, and Chhun Vuth, 22. Poline and Long were sentenced for robbery, while Ry, Sophat and Vuth were in for murder.

The court first handed Poline 10 years in 2004, and he was less than two years away from serving out his time when he went on the lam. Now, he will face fresh charges for escaping, Vanny said.

The 2012 caper marked the second time that year that convicts in the more than 1,100-inmate facility had managed to bypass the walls, bars and guards.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/battambang-escapee-nabbed