Former Democratic Kampuchea (DK) , also Known as Khmer Rouge, commander Chhouk Rin, who has been on the run since February, was arrested and began serving his life sentence in prison Wednesday.

Chhouk Rin was convicted for his involvement in a train ambush in 1994 at Vine Mountain in Kampot province, where three backpackers from France, Australia and Britain were kidnapped and later killed.

He has evaded arrest since February, when the Supreme Court turned down his final appeal of a life sentence.

Chhouk Rin was arrested by police on Tuesday in a village near the border of Cambodia and Thai, and flown in a helicopter to Phnom Penh, where he was jailed in Prey Sar prison, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak.

Police in the Interior Ministry's General Information Department involved with the arrest operation said Chhouk Rin was immediately jailed because the Supreme Court had already sentenced him to a life imprisonment in 2003.

Chhouk Rin's arrest followed the request by French President Jacques Chirac who asked Prime Minister Hun Sen to have the former commander arrested during a meeting in Paris on Sept. 21.

Other two former DK commanders involved in the train ambush have also been sentenced to life imprisonment.

Source: Xinhua