RANGOON – The beheaded and slashed body of a Muslim man was found on Friday in Arakan State’s northern Maungdaw Township, the State Counselor’s Office Information Committee has said.
Villagers discovered the body of U Shuna Myar of Ngakhura village on the outskirts of Doe Dan village. Col. Thet Aung, deputy head of the border police, spoke to The Irrawaddy on Friday and confirmed the man’s death before the information committee’s statement was released, but said that the body was found on Thursday. He declined to provide further information about the incident.
Burmese reporters who participated in a three-day government-organized trip to northern Maungdaw beginning on Dec. 20 told The Irrawaddy on Friday that U Shuna Myar was one of their interviewees from the Rohingya Muslim community in Ngakhura. The State Counselor’s Office Information Committee reported in a statement on Friday evening that U Shuna Myar returned home on Wednesday after answering the journalists’ questions, but left again in the evening and did not return.
The information committee’s statement said that during the interview, U Shuna Myar had said that there were no rapes, arson, or arbitrary arrests carried out by the government security forces during recent clearance operations in Maungdaw. The Irrawaddy could not independently verify the information, as the organization’s reporters were not invited on the tour.
The Irrawaddy obtained some short video clips in which U Shuna Myar had conversations with the media, but the segment described by the State Counselor’s Office Information Committee was not included.
In one clip, U Shuna Myar said that more than 1,000 villagers had fled during the conflict and that they are still missing.
