Aung Htein — A man shot dead by the Tatmadaw while performing what was described as “law enforcement activities” near Myothit Market in the Arakan State town of Ponnagyun is said to have suffered from mental illness, according to residents.

A statement issued by the Tatmadaw on June 11 said security personnel stopped a man who approached them with a knife, but he attempted to attack them so security personnel fired a warning shot at the man, who died on the spot.

“After his death, I was asked by police and the Tatmadaw as to whether the deceased person was from Myothit Ward. I replied that the man was a person suffering from mental illness,” said U Than Maung, the Myothit ward administrator.

The man was identified as U Nyi Nyi, 48, from Myothit ward. An improvised explosive device (IED) measuring 6 inches in height and 8 inches in diameter, and bomb-making materials such as plastic piping, were found in a backpack seized from the deceased man, the Tatmadaw’s statement said.

Meanwhile, a military officer in plainclothes from the Tatmadaw’s No. 550 Light Infantry Regiment was stabbed by a group of unidentified men in downtown Ponnagyun on Thursday morning and a private who was accompanying the officer was abducted.

Security has since been tightened in the town. In the aftermath, the Tatmadaw allegedly opened fire indiscriminately in Ponnagyun and blocked road transportation. All shops in town were shuttered, said residents.

Security forces also destroyed some groceries and mobile phone shops inside the market during the search operation, said a resident who declined to be named.

“They [security personnel] destroyed a grocery near Aye Zedi Pagoda and mobile phone shops and stationed themselves in the market. They do what they want to do,” the undisclosed source added.  

The deceased man’s body was sent to Ponnagyun Hospital for autopsy.

DMG attempted to contact Brig-Gen Zaw Min Tun from the Tatmadaw True News Information Team for comment on the Ponnagyun man’s death, but he could not be reached.