Nothing is known about the whereabouts of the Kyauktaw residents captured by the Military Council and they have lost contact with their families.
Those 6 people arrested and missing are 43-year-old U Hla Maung Than, a rice mill owner from Kadi (aka) Thazin Village, 39-year-old Maung Chay (aka) U Maung Thet Soe from Apaukwa Village, a traditional practitioner U Kyaw Hein from Kawiyadana War Refugee Camp and three people from a diner near Kyauktaw Mahamuni Pagoda including U Maung Saw Thar, according to their families.
The traditional practitioner was arrested by the Military when he went to the Kyauktaw Train Station Refugee camp to treat patients at around 9:00 PM on July 19. His wife said that he has not been contacted since then.
Similarly, 3 people including U Maung Saw Thar, who were arrested in public by the Military at a diner near Mahamuni Pagoda have not yet been contacted, their family members said.
Rice mill owner U Hla Maung Than and his companion, Maung Chay (aka) U Maung Thet Soe, have been missing ever since the 539th Battalion commander summoned them on October 2. Everyone is very worried because no news about the two missing people has been heard, U Hla Maung Than’s wife told Narinjara.
“It has been 10 days since they were arrested. Any news about them has not been heard since their arrest. I don't know where he is taken into custody. I want to know where the two are. And my husband is in poor health. I went to ask about them and didn't get to know anything hence I am very worried”, she said.
She asserted that when she spoke on the phone, U Hla Maung Than and U Maung Thet Soe informed her that they were at the 539th Battalion because they were summoned by the Military.
However, when she went to the Battalion to ask about her husband, the army men replied that the two men never showed up and she began to worry, the wife said. In addition, she admits that she no longer knows how to solve the current situation.
Maung Chay (aka) U Maung Thet Soe’s wife also said that she wants to know the whereabouts of her husband if he was arrested. If her husband had committed any crime, he should have taken actions according to the law, but he should be released as soon as possible if he is innocent, she added.
In Rakhine State, the Military Council troops are arresting residents almost every day, and some are not even handed over to the police or missing without being tried in court, so their families are very worried.
Of those arrested by the Military, only a small number were released, and the rest lost contact with their families, tortured, and persecuted.
