U Mamut Rukur, a 60-year-old village elder from Mee Kyaung Khaung Swea village in the northern part of Buthidaung Township, was murdered according to villagers, on the night of September 9th, by ARSA members who apprehended him at his residence. The following morning, on September 10th, villagers discovered his body near Maungnhama (Sibling) Hill near the village.
He was a respected village elder who holds significant influence among the villagers. It appears that ARSA attempted to recruit him through threats, possibly with intentions of extortion due to his wealth. However like many Muslim villagers he vehemently opposed ARSA and did not support their cause. Maybe that's why ARSA killed him”, a local told Narinjara. "Only stab wounds were found on his body, with no evidence of gunshot injuries”, another Muslim villager reported. The locals have already laid the deceased's body to rest in accordance with religious customs.
According to locals, the shadowy extremist ARSA has reportedly reached an agreement with the Military Council to conduct activities in Buthidaung and Maungdaw townships, and the Military Council has taken no action against them.
The UN Human Rights investigation concluded that Myanmar military had conducted a genocidal campaign against the Rohingya ethnic and predominantly Muslim people, with over 750.000 forced to flee from homes in Rakhine State to Bangladesh from 2017.
The surviving local community is growing increasingly concerned following the cold-blooded killing of a Muslim village elder. Some ARSA members recently infiltrated the refugee camps in Bangladesh, but following the harsh crackdowns by local authorities, they appear to have been assisted to return to Rakhine and re-appear in the townships of Maungdaw and Buthidaung in Rakhine State.
Within those two townships, ARSA members have established camps and are engaging in activities such as spreading propaganda in Rohingya Muslim villages through weapon-based threats, kidnapping affluent Muslim businessmen, extortion, and other criminal acts. They big question is whether the regime or some foreign Islamic body supporting their disruptive influence and propaganda.
