Hok Lundy's family to buy crash site

Written by May Titthara

Thursday, 20 November 2008 Phnom Penh Post

The former National Police chief's relatives will erect a monument to the late top cop Photo by: HENG CHIVOAN A military police officer lifts a photograph of Hok Lundy at a ceremony commemorating the late National Police chief on Saturday. RELATIVES of the late National Police chief, Hok Lundy, plan to buy the land where his helicopter crashed and erect a monument there to guard his spirit, says a monk whose mother owns the property. Keut Sophy, the chief monk of Svay Chek pagoda, near the crash site, said relatives inquired about purchasing the 90-metre-by-80-metre vegetable plot in Svay Rieng province's Romdoul district. The monk said the land was haunted long before it became the death site of Cambodia's top cop. "At night I would dream about a dark magician from Svay Rieng town coming to use magic on my family's land," he said. "One night I invited seven monks to bless the village, and then the next day Hok Lundy had his crash." While the monk would not reveal to the Post the property's price tag, a local resident, 47-year-old Hing Phon, said the monk was insisting on the hefty sum of US$150,000. "That is a very high price for simple agricultural land, but I think Hok Lundy's family is desperate to buy it because Khmer people believe that when someone dies, their spirit remains in that place," he said. While area residents have been scrambling to catch a glimpse of the crash site, Svay Rieng provincial Governor Chieng Om said police were keeping people away out of respect for the late police chief's spirit. Relatives of Hok Lundy could not be reached for comment. The news comes as Hok Lundy's replacement, Hun Sen's nephew-in-law and National Police deputy commissioner, Neth Savoeun, is set to be sworn in Friday, according to a source close to the process.