Police in Rakhine State say arrests are continuing in a case involving a police sergeant who went missing after violence erupted in a Maungdaw Township village last week.
A spokesperson for the Rakhine State government, U Win Myaing, said on January 19 that nine people he referred to as “Bengalis” were being questioned by police.
“More arrests have been made but we cannot say the exact number yet,” U Win Myaing said, adding that the situation in Du Chee Yar Tan village, where the violence occurred on January 13, was stable.
He said a police sergeant’s shirt had been found near a mosque in the village on January 17.
U Win Myaing said 84 people had been detained on January 18 in connection with the incident, but all except the nine had been released.
He said some people wanted for question gone into hiding and were being sought by the authorities.
The Associated Press news agency reported that 17 Muslim women and five children were killed in the violence, but this was denied by the Ministry of Information as being incorrect.