Military steps up security checks after abduction of police officer in Kyaukphyu Twsp

24 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
24 July 2022, Kyaukphyu

Three men in plainclothes abducted a police officer at a local bazaar in Sanae town, part of Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu Township, at about 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, according to eyewitnesses.

The detainee has been identified as Police Inspector Kyaw Zin Win, head of the Sanae police station. The police officer was arrested when he went to the local market by motorbike, said a resident of Sanae town.

“The police officer, in civilian dress, came to Sanae market to buy something. I saw the police officer was taken by three men in plainclothes,” an eyewitness told DMG. “The people who arrested the police officer were in civilian clothes, so it was difficult to tell which organisation made the arrest.”

Some residents expressed the belief that the police officer was arrested by members of the Arakan Army, which is active in the area.

Following the abduction, Myanmar military personnel questioned passersby and travellers at Sanae market and at junctions along the Kyaukphyu-Yangon road, said another resident who declined to be named for security reasons.

“The junta soldiers and police conducted interrogations of locals after the police officer was detained. Some grocery owners closed their shops in fear and no one dared to go outside,” the unnamed resident added.

Some local men in Sanae town went into hiding for fear of being arrested and interrogated by the military.

DMG phoned Arakan State Minister for Security and Border Affairs Colonel Kyaw Thura to seek comment on the detention of the police officer, but he could not be reached.

U Khaing Thukha, spokesperson for the Arakan Army, said he was not yet aware of the matter.

Tensions between Myanmar’s military regime and the Arakan Army have been rising in Arakan State in recent weeks. The Arakan Army detained some junta soldiers and police personnel, and in response, the Myanmar military arrested dozens of civilians on suspicion of having ties to the ethnic armed group.