A riot police officer on duty was attacked by five Muslims on Wednesday night reportedly in their attempt to loot his gun in Maungdaw, the border town in Arakan State, where a state of emergency and curfew are still being imposed due to recent violence.
“It happened around 8 pm yesterday. When we inquired what was happening after we heard a gunshot, shouting and running, we learned that five Muslim men tried to loot a gun from a riot police officer on the bridge near our ward”, said a resident of Myot Thu Gyi Ward in Maungdaw.
Those Muslim men were said to have crossed the bridge as pedestrian, and when they came to the policeman who was alone on sentry duty at the bridge, they suddenly attacked him and tried to loot his gun. As he fought back against them and fired his gun, they ran away from the spot.
When Narinjara contacted the Riot Police Battalion No. 2 stationed at Four-Mile in Maungdaw by phone to confirm the incident, the official on duty on condition of anonymity told Narinjara as follow.
“Yes, he is one of the personnel from our battalion and sustained some injuries as he was attacked. Four of the five attackers are already arrested, but we have not caught the remaining one yet. Action will be taken in accordance with law”, said the official.
When asked more questions about the incident he declined to answer the questions telling that they had to perform their duties with special cautiousness to ensure security there at present.
This attack is said to have occurred after the notices that threaten to continue the attacks on the Buddhist Rakhine and other ethnic peoples in Maungdaw were stuck everywhere across the town on 25th of June.
It is also learnt that the security forces raided a Muslim village near Maungdaw on the tip that some miscreants from the village were collecting petrol to carry out a arson attack on nearby Buddhist dominating Aung Bala Village in the area as well.
9 villages of Buddhist Arakanese and other ethnic people were burned down and hundreds of them have become homeless due to the violent attacks by the Muslim terrorists on 8th of June in Maungdaw Township. At least 7 people were killed and 50 injured by the attacks as well.
According to the residents in downtown Maungdaw, the refugees who fled the attacks are still being sheltered in the schools in the town, and the present situation in the area is calm, but they have to live in fear and worry as the notices that threaten to continue attacks on them are still spreading in their area.
