The commander of the border security force Nasaka based in Maungdaw in Arakan State was summoned by higher authorities to Naypyidaw for an investigation, report police and Nasaka personnel.
One Nasaka source said the commander was summoned by Naypyidaw authorities after many allegations against him concerning the recent violent attacks in Maungdaw have come out.
“The commander was summoned to Naypyidaw on 7 July to be investigated because there are so many allegations against him that he has taken money from the rioters who carried out the recent violent attacks in Maungdaw,” said the Nasaka source.
A police officer from Maungdaw also said, “I have heard that Colonel Aung Gyi was summoned to Naypyidaw and he is being investigated there concerning the recent unrest in Maungdaw.”
He added that local people, including government officials, believe that many Arakanese villages in Maungdaw were burned down by the perpetrators of the recent attacks because of the negligence of Nasaka Commander Colonel Aung Gyi.
“When the attacks were happening in downtown Maungdaw, the Nasaka personnel came and found fault with the riot police of Battalion 2, who tried to disperse the attackers with gunfire. When Laungdone Model Village in northern Maungdaw was being attacked, Colonel Aung Gyi did not allow his forces to open fire. After his area-officer was hit and injured by stones thrown by the attackers, his forces opened fire and the attackers were dispersed. So the departmental officers here are also still dissatisfied with him for his performance during the violent attacks here,” said the police officer.
The local residents in Maungdaw have also accused him in a letter recently sent to Narinjara of taking 350 million Kyat from Muslims to allow them to hold a mass prayer ceremony on 8 June that allegedly motivated the violent attacks in their area.
In a report by the state-run newspaper The Mirror on 9 June, a story was published but the title of Colonel for Aung Gyi was not listed alongside his name. The newspaper instead used the non-military honorific of “U” for his name in the report.
According to sources, Nasaka is now temporarily being kept under the direct command of Brigadier General Ko Ko Naing, the Commander of the Western Command in Arakan State.
