A Nasaka officer, who had widely abused human rights in Maungdaw on the western Burma border was sentenced to prison after he was removed from his job by the Nasaka chief, said a government official on the border.

"Maung Win was sentenced to three years in prison after he was removed from Nasaka by Nasaka Chief Colonel Aung Gyi recently. He grossly abused human rights of four local people in 2009," he said.

Maung Win abused four local people in Taung Bro Way - Left Village near the Bangladesh border in March and April 2009, when he was posted as a member of Nasaka Camp No. 7 in the area. At that time, U Ko Ko Hling from the Immigration Department was in charge of the camp.

Maung Win and some Nasaka men arrested four local people in Taung Bro Way in March 2009 on the accusation that they had connections with exiled groups in Bangladesh, in order to take bribes from them.

After the arrest, Maung Win demanded large bribes from them. When the four refused, the Nasaka men led by Maung Win tied their hands and legs with ropes after stripping them naked. During the night, Maung Win forced them to sleep on the ground after ants' nests were tied to their bodies.

"The next morning, the four men lost consciousness from such atrocities by Maung Win in the Nasaka camp. Afterwards, Maung Win handed them over to their families," the official said.

The family members filed a complaint about the torture with the Nasaka Chief in Maungdaw and the ILO office in Rangoon.

Ten months later, Nasaka chief Aung Gyi investigated and later discharged Maung Win from Nasaka. He was finally sentenced to three years in prison.

"If the Nasaka chief didn't punish Maung Win, he would be facing trouble. So he was afraid of this, and later he threw out Maung Win and punished him with a prison term," the official added.