Junta detains Made Island policemen after colleague defects

By Admin 08 Aug 2024

DMG Newsroom
8 August 2024, Kyaukphyu

The regime has detained at least seven police officers from a local police station on Made Island in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, where China has significant interests.

The policemen were detained after a police constable defected to the AA along with weapons on July 17, according to sources.

“He took almost all the weapons at the police station and ran away. The following day, junta soldiers arrived and arrested all the other policemen,” said a resident of Made Island.

The constable reportedly took 10 guns, bullets and a few grenades.

The policemen from Made Island are currently being held either at Infantry Battalion No. 34 based in Kyaukphyu Town or Kyaukphyu Prison.

There were once 13 policemen at the Made Island police station. At least four policemen have surrendered to the AA since the latest fighting broke out in November.

“Whenever police fled, junta soldiers came to question or arrest male villagers on the island. So, some men fled after the police constable ran away for fear that they might be arrested,” said another resident.

There are local police stations in Myo Chaung, Sane, Zin Chaung, Min Pyin, Kapaing Chaung and Kun Chaung villages, as well as on Made Island in Kyaukphyu Township. The AA has seized all the police stations in the township except the Made Island police station.

To date, there have only been small skirmishes between junta troops and the AA in Kyaukphyu Township.

Residents from some 30 villages have nonetheless been prompted to flee their homes due to junta ground and air raids, and artillery barrages.

Made Island hosts sizable Chinese investments including the Sino-Myanmar oil and gas pipelines stretching 500 miles through central Myanmar and Shan State to Yunnan Province.

There are 28 foreign investments, mostly oil and gas projects, in Arakan State worth US$9.2 billion in total, according to the Directorate of Investment and Company Administration.