A 45-year-old casual labourer from Lanmadaw (South) Ward in Sittwe township has died after being beaten and tortured in military custody, following his arrest on allegations of membership in the Arakan Army (AA).

The victim, identified as U Su Laing, earned his living through odd jobs such as driving slow-moving

vehicles and fishing. A person close to him told Mizzima that he was detained on 9 August and that the junta informed his family of his death on 12 August.

“He died of internal injuries. The junta accused him of traveling to AA-controlled areas and detained him. Think about it, he was 45; could he really have joined the AA? It might have been a setup. He had no ties to the AA. On Saturday, junta troops and police came calling his name and took him away in a vehicle. Yesterday, they told his family he had died. They did not return the body but told the family they could come and bury him if they wished. He was buried at a cemetery in Sittwe. Before his arrest, he was healthy and had no illnesses,” the source said.

Local residents said several others in Sittwe have recently been arrested on similar accusations of AA links, with their whereabouts still unknown.

Since 2024, the junta has regularly conducted nighttime raids and arbitrary arrests across the town’s wards, sometimes led personally by the commander of the Sittwe Regional Military Operations Command.

Door-to-door guest list inspections including at monasteries and relief camps, have been reported, with those deemed suspicious taken into custody. Meanwhile, the junta’s artillery regiment in Sittwe township is said to be firing almost daily at AA-controlled areas along the township’s borders.

photo credit - AFP