Still no word on Ramree NLD official abducted by gunmen one month ago

By Aung Kaung Zaw 06 Mar 2020

Aung Kaung Zaw | DMG
6 March, Ramree

Local party officials have yet to communicate with U Zeyar Min or his captors, about a month after the finance officer for the National League for Democracy (NLD) in Ramree Township, Arakan State, was abducted by unidentified gunmen while on his way home.

Family members of U Zeyar Min are worried about his fate, said U Khin Yee, secretary of the NLD’s Ramree Township branch.

“We have yet to receive any information about the abductee. We have opened a case at Ramree Police Station. The abduction occurred one month ago but the situation hasn’t changed. I often go to the police station to ask about the latest on him,” he told DMG.

U Zeyar Min was seized by eight armed people between the villages of Kyauksauk and Kalarpone, about 10 miles from Ramree town, at about 6 p.m. on February 8 while he was heading home together with one of his cousins. The kidnapping was reported to the NLD’s central office, U Khin Yee said.

Arakan Army (AA) spokesman Khaing Thukha has denied that members of his group abducted U Zeyar Min, rejecting allegations made by family members of the abductee.

The AA detained Buthidaung Township’s NLD party chairperson U Ye Thein on December 11. Two week later, the AA stated that U Ye Thein had been killed by a Tatmadaw artillery shell while he was in the custody of the ethnic armed group. The Tatmadaw denied that claim.