Three people from a village in Mrauk-U Township were arrested by a Tatmadaw troop on 20 September when they were traveling to a homage paying ceremony for teachers in another village, local sources said.
The abbot of the village monastery, the village administrator and a villager who drove the vehicle for them from Oh Htame village were taken by the Tatmadaw troop positioned at Su Taung Pyae pagoda near Mt. Linn Mway, a devotee of the monk, who asked not to be named, said.
“We were informed that the monk did not arrive for our village’s event for offering meals for monks. We then found that they visited the Homage Paying Ceremony in Kyauk Kyat village. Village youths searched for them along the way to that village and saw the monk’s vehicle in front of a monastery where soldiers have been positioned,” the monk’s devotee said.
Ma Oo Wai Nu, daughter of the village administrator U Wai Soe Tun, said that no one knew exactly where they have been detained.
“We all are worried about them. We’d like to know where they are. My father is innocent,” she said.
The DMG phoned Colonel Win Zaw Oo, chief of the Western Command, to confirm if they have been arrested by the Tatmadaw, but he was not available to comment.
