Border guard police outpost chief, officers desert in Maungdaw

By Admin 04 Jul 2023

DMG Newsroom
4 July 2023, Maungdaw

Three police officers from a local border guard police station, including the commanding officer, have deserted in northern Arakan State’s Maungdaw. The police station is located in the Nga Khu Ya neighbourhood and is under the command of the No. 7 Border Guard Police Unit based in Kyein Chaung.

After a suspect detained at the border guard police outpost managed to escape on Monday, police carried out a search for the suspect and the three officers took advantage of the search operation and fled along with their family members, according to locals.

“I don’t know their names. I heard the police station chief and his wife, and his two subordinates had deserted. I saw many junta soldiers searching for them today,” said a resident of Nga Khu Ya Village.

DMG was unable to contact officials of the said border guard police outpost to ask about the alleged desertions.

When asked by DMG, Captain Kyaw Zan Naing of the Kyeinchaung-based border guard police unit said: “We are far from that outpost. So, we have not yet heard about that.”

Junta troops were searching for deserters in military vehicles on Tuesday, said residents.

Some junta soldiers have deserted the Myanmar military following the ceasefire between the military and the Arakan Army in Arakan State.

Four border guard police deserted their outpost in Myint Hlut Village, Maungdaw Township, on March 6. Two border guard police also deserted in Rathedaung Township on March 19. A private and his wife deserted Light Infantry Battalion No. 263, based in Buthidaung, on April 1.

Police analysts said junta troops kept deserting out of concern for their safety. The Myanmar regime has been suffering heavy casualties in daily clashes with resistance forces and ethnic armed organisations across the country.