SITTWE, Rakhine State—A police officer was stabbed to death in broad daylight in downtown Kyauktaw in Rakhine State on Saturday, township police confirmed to The Irrawaddy.
The victim, Police Lieutenant Aung Min Zaw of the Kyauktaw Township Police Force, was stabbed to death at around 3 p.m. on a road in front of a religious building downtown by two motorcycle riders, according to police.
“He was in charge of the Criminal Records Office. It is said he was stabbed to death by two men and died on the spot,” said a police officer on duty at Kyauktaw Township Police Station.
The brazen daylight attack in the downtown area reportedly left local residents afraid to go outside.
“I heard about the incident. I did not see it. No one dared to go out of his house to see what happened. All the shops have closed,” Lower House lawmaker U Oo Tun Win of Kyauktaw Township told The Irrawaddy.
The Irrawaddy was unable to contact Police Lieutenant Colonel Maung Maung Soe of Rakhine State Police Force for comment.
The incident follows the stabbing of a Myanmar army officer and the abduction a private in downtown Ponnagyun Township on Thursday. The Myanmar military blamed the Arakan Army (AA) for the incident, and a civilian was killed in a shooting by the Myanmar military at around noon that day.
The Myanmar military claimed soldiers providing security in the town were forced to shoot the civilian as he approached them too closely.
The relatives of the victim and local residents of Ponnagyun disputed the military’s claim, saying the 45-year-old victim was mentally ill and a frequent sight on the streets around the town.
In August last year, Kyauktaw Township police chief Police Major Saw Than Lwin was wounded in a knife attack at the township jetty. In another incident in September, a police sergeant responsible for jetty security was killed in a knife attack.
Murders and attacks on police and village administration officials have become frequent in Rakhine over the past few years, with some being killed at their homes and shops. None of the cases have been solved.
Translated from Burmese by Thet Ko Ko
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