A village official was shot dead and two others were wounded in an attack by gunmen in the Pantawpyin Muslim village of Arakan State’s Maungdaw Township in the early hours of September 2.

“The attack occurred at about 1 a.m. today. A villager was shot dead by gunmen and two others were attacked with knives and are being treated at Maungdaw Hospital,” U Annawa, the administrator of Pantawpyin village, told DMG.

The deceased was identified as Mu Hee Buraman aka U Tin Shwe, 48, a village in charge from Pantawpyin Alae village. The two wounded were identified as Adu Munet, 30, a relative of the deceased, and Shabul, 28.

A group of seven people reportedly armed with guns and knives attacked the three villagers.

“Seven armed robbers broke into my brother’s house around midnight and aimed their guns at my brother,” said Ko Win Zaw, a cousin of the victim.

“My brother asked the robbers not to take his life and take jewelry and money instead. They dragged my brother away, saying they did not need gold or silver. At that time, a relative of my brother attempted to grab a gun from the robbers. The robbers attacked the man with knives and shot my brother dead.”  

The Pantawpyin village tract consists of Pantawpyin Ywathit, Pantawpyin Alae, Pantawpyin Anauk and Pantawpyin Taung villages.

Border Guard Force members are currently deployed in Pantawpyin village tract and efforts are reportedly being made to arrest the perpetrators of Thursday’s assault.

U Maung Ohn, a former Arakan State MP for Maungdaw Township, said the incident was considered an attempt to disrupt the government’s administrative machinery.

“Why are the bandits killing the administration officials like this? The robbers are trying to arrest local officials, so it is likely that they are deliberately undermining the administration and undermining the rule of law,” he added.

On August 17, unknown armed men abducted U Shawbi, an administrator of Padin Muslim village in Maungdaw Township, and stole gold items from his home.