The chief of police in Ratanakkiri province on Monday denied that authorities arrested 36 Montagnards, who the U.N. and local villagers say were deported to Vietnam last week while attempting to reach Phnom Penh to apply for asylum.

Thousands of kilograms of rice donated by the Cambodian Red Cross to impoverished families in Battambang province, including residents of HIV-hit Roka commune, had to be replaced Monday after villagers complained it was rotten, officials said.

Two monks appeared Monday before the Phnom Penh Municipal Court for questioning in relation to the stabbing death of senior Wat Samakki Raingsey monk Thach Khan allegedly by a junior member of the pagoda in January.

About 50 people with claims to land being developed in Phnom Penh’s Chroy Changva peninsula protested in front of City Hall on Monday and delivered a petition on behalf of more than 100 families demanding intervention in their dispute with the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation.

Police are seeking to arrest a man suspected of robbing, raping and murdering a 22-year-old garment worker found dead on the side of National Road 61 in Kandal province on Saturday, police said Monday.