Two detained civil servants in Kyaukphyu released, two others remain in military custody

By DMG 27 Oct 2022

DMG Newsroom
27 October 2022, Kyaukphyu

Of four employees from the Department of Agricultural Land Management and Statistics Department in Arakan State’s Kyaukphyu, two have been released, but the two others remain under military detention.

U Tun Tun Win, a 52-year-old staff officer, was arrested at the meeting hall of the Department of Agricultural Land Management and Statistics Department in Kyaukphyu on October 25. U Khin Maung, 38, a clerk, U Nyi Nyi Tin, 45, and U Tun Tun Naing, 45, all employees of the department, were also abducted the next day.

U Nyi Nyi Tin and U Tun Tun Naing were released on the evening of October 26. It is not yet known why the other two remain detained.

“They [U Nyi Nyi Tin and U Tun Tun Naing] were released at about 4 p.m. on October 26. Two men are still held and are not released yet,” said a source close to the detainees.

DMG phoned Major-General Zaw Min Tun, a spokesman for the military junta, regarding the matter, but he could not be reached.

The number of residents detained by the junta on suspicion of having ties to the Arakan Army (AA) has been rising in Arakan State and neighbouring Paletwa Township, Chin State, following renewed fighting between the two sides, which kicked off in earnest in August.

Myanmar’s military and the Arakan Army reached an informal ceasefire agreement ahead of the country’s November 2020 general election, after approximately two years of often-intense fighting in Arakan State. The peace pact has since broken down, however, with more than 17,000 civilians newly displaced as a result.