An ethnic Chin man is among eight construction workers of the Su Htoo San Company detained by the Arakan Army (AA) in Paletwa Township, the man’s family has said.

Thirty-four-year-old Tun Lin Aung, a backhoe driver, is from Lake-kon Ward (1), six miles from Paletwa town. Su Htoo San is constructing a road between Paletwa and Zorinpwi, in India’s Mizoram State. The road is part of the Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project.

AA spokesperson Khaing Thukha previously told Khonumthung that, for security reasons, they were detaining people from the construction site who they suspected of having ties to the military, and military intelligence in particular.

“My son worked in Hpakant [in Kachin State]as a backhoe driver. He worked with the Su Htoo San Company after he returned from Hpakant,” Kyaw Aung, Tun Lin Aung’s father, said. “Local people in Paletwa know that my son is not connected with a MI [military intelligence]unit. His mother cannot eat because she is worried about her son. I want to request the release of my son.”

More than 100 AA troops arrested 11 men and two women working for Su Htoo San company in the village of Twin-king Ah-lawng on March 30. Later, three men and the two women were released, with eight still detained.

Ko Kyaw Aung, who is in charge of the Social Volunteer Team in Paletwa town, said that Tun Lin Aung should not be held in AA detention. “We know he is not connected with a MI unit. He is an honest worker and supporting his parents. AA forces should release him as soon as possible,” he told Khonumthung.