Army Official Collects Bribes to Clear Records

Maungdaw (Narinjara): An army intelligence officer from Taungbro, a sub-township on the western Burmese border, has requested large sums of money from rich men in the area as a bribe to clear their names from a list of people wanted for crimes, said a Muslim religious leader.

"Army intelligence officer Kyaw Myo Latt is asking for 1.5 million kyat (one lakh taka) from each wealthy family in Thi Chaung Village to clear their name from the list of crime. Some rich men have paid the money to Kyaw Myo Latt out of fear of arrest by the authority," he said.

Last week, villagers from Thi Chaung Village clashed with some soldiers from the Burmese army when the army men were caught poaching shrimp from locally-owned shrimp farms, and four soldiers were hospitalized with critical injuries.

After the clash, some Muslim villagers were severely tortured after being arrested, but many managed to flee from the village to Bangladesh to avoid retaliation by the authority.

However, some wealthy men from the village were unable to flee the country and have been hiding in some villages nearby Thi Chaung since the incident took place.

The army authority has since charged all the male villagers with assault for beating the soldiers. Because of this, many villagers are fleeing and are in hiding. The intelligence officer has been collecting bribes from the men to remove their names from the list of wanted suspects.

"Rich men from the village have no problem paying the money asked for by the intelligence official, if the authorities remove their names from the list of those charged with the crime, because they want to continue living in their village. But poor people are facing a problem and I don't know how I can solve their problem," the religious leader said.

Many male villagers were forced to desert their families and homes after the incident and some houses in the village are now without elder men. According to a local source, about 100 elder mails are hiding from the village after the clash and many have reportedly taken shelter in Bangladesh territory.

"I think they will have no chance to return home as they have fled to Bangladesh. They will have to live in Bangladesh forever. If they return back to Burma, they will be arrested and punished with long prison terms," he said.