At least five civil servants and local administrative staff have been held incommunicado in the Rakhine State capital of Sittwe for more than two weeks, with families cut off from all contact and unconfirmed reports suggesting one detainee may have died in custody.

A joint force of military personnel and police arrested the five individuals from their homes on July 20.

The detainees have been identified as Ko San Oo, a fire sergeant; Ko Min Min, Sittwe’s chief administrative officer; Ko Tun Hlaing, an X-ray technician at Sittwe General Hospital; Daw Nwe Nwe Soe, a senior clerk at the Myanmar Port Authority; and Ko Kyaw San Tin, an employee at a local retail store.

“We haven’t had any contact with them since their arrest,” a source close to one of the families told Narinjara. “We don’t know why they were taken or where they are being held. The families are extremely worried.”

The source noted that despite being held for over 14 days, none of the detainees have been produced before a court or granted access to legal counsel.

Under Myanmar’s criminal code procedure, authorities are legally required to bring detainees before a judge within 24 hours of arrest.

Local rumors suggest the military junta seized the group over alleged links or financial ties to the Arakan Army (AA), the ethnic armed organization that controls vast swathes of Rakhine State.

However, military authorities have released no official statement regarding the arrests or their location.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that Ko Kyaw San Tin may have died during interrogation by military intelligence officers. Narinjara has not yet been able to independently verify his death.

Human rights groups report a sharp escalation in arbitrary arrests across Sittwe as military forces tighten control over the dwindling regime-held city.

Because detainees are routinely denied access to the judicial system, activists estimate that hundreds of civilians may currently be held in secret military detention facilities across the city.