Family unable to meet detained villager in Kyauktaw Twsp

By Hnin Nwe 30 Sep 2020

Hnin Nwe | DMG
30 September, Sittwe

A resident of Kyaukgusu village in Kyauktaw Township who was arrested by security personnel over the weekend was transferred to Kyauktaw’s Myoma police station on September 29, according to family members of the detainee.

“When we received information about his arrival, we went to the police station. But we were not allowed to enter the police station. So we didn’t see him,” Ko Kyaw Hla, the younger brother of the detainee, told DMG.

Tatmadaw troops entered Kyaukgusu village on September 27, arresting Ko Maung Pein Aung, 36, and Ko Sein Tun Win, 35, and interrogating the two men at the local monastery. The security forces eventually released the latter man but held Ko Maung Pein Aung, family members said.

DMG contacted the Kyauktaw Myoma police station seeking confirmation of reports that the detainee had been handed over to police, but was unable to connect with any police officials.

In a statement on September 29, the Tatmadaw said that it had found information related to the Arakan Army on Maung Pein Aung’s mobile phone.

The military’s statement said security personnel together with village elders conducted a home search near the detainee’s residence and discovered an improvised explosive device measuring 5 inches in height and 3 inches in diameter, and made of plastic pipes, as well as a landmine in a rice barn.

But Maung Pein Aung’s wife, Ma May Htee Chay, told DMG that her husband had no knowledge of either explosive device.

“A group of security personnel came back to my house to check the rice barn. One of the security members entered the barn and said he found a mine. My husband doesn’t know that a mine was found in the rice barn,” she said.

She added that Ko Maung Pein Aung earns a living by farming and has no ties to any armed organisations.

“I cannot take care of the paddy fields and farmlands as he is currently being held because I am handling two children. He is the breadwinner for the family,” she said.

According to data compiled by DMG, the number of civilians arrested by the Tatmadaw on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army from July to September 2020 had risen by at least 40.