The Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army (ARSA) abducted and killed a Muslim villager in Buthidaung Township, Rakhine State, on Saturday, according to residents.
A 65-year-old Meekyaungkaungswe villager was seized on Saturday night and drowned.
“The victim was a boatman. His family said four or five armed men came to the house around midnight and told him to take them somewhere in his boat. He was taken forcibly after he refused. A search party found him in the river near their village,” a villager told The Irrawaddy.
Another Muslim resident from Buthidaung said the victim was killed because of his alleged ties to the Arakan Army (AA), which controls much of rural Rakhine.
“As he is a boatman, he ferried anyone for money. Sometimes he transported goods for AA. ARSA said he was collaborating. His family said ARSA abducted him. They normally wear masks but not this time,” he told The Irrawaddy.
Junta troops, police and administrative officials came to the village and questioned the family about the killing but no ARSA members have been detained, said residents.
Faced with a government crackdown in neighboring Bangladesh over refugee camp crimes, ARSA members have been appearing in Maungdaw.
Business owners in Maungdaw and Buthidaung townships fear they will be kidnapped for ransom, said a Muslim from Buthidaung.
A Muslim refugee from Bangladesh said Myanmar’s junta must have allowed ARSA troops to cross the heavily guarded border with many outposts near Muslim villages in Maungdaw and Buthidaung.
Villagers say they have been reporting ARSA’s arrival to junta border forces but no action has been taken. Some villagers who reported ARSA’s arrival were murdered, according to Muslim villagers in Maungdaw.
ARSA came into the spotlight after alleged attacks on border outposts in 2016 and 2017 in Maungdaw. The group is active in Buthidaung and Maungdaw in Rakhine and Cox’s Bazar in eastern Bangladesh. It is estimated to have around 300 fighters.
