Four suspects have been arrested over a shooting incident on May 28 in a village in northern Rakhine State that left three people dead and nine others hospitalised, officials said.
The four suspects, described as “Bengalis” by authorities, have been charged over the incident in Maungdaw Township’s Southern Thinbawgway Village and another 12 suspects remain at large, township officials said.
The incident occurred amidst calls for increased security in the area near the border with Bangladesh, following reports of armed groups entering Myanmar from the country.
Village residents said the armed group had not tried to rob them, but that they took weapons from the village after the shootout.
The village head, his wife and an Islamic scholar were shot dead in the attack. Nine other people sustained gun shot wounds and were sent to Maungdaw General Hospital.
The shooting incident was the first of its kind this year, officials said.
It followed a recommendation in a report submitted to President Thein Sein that security be increased in the township. An investigation committee formed by the president to investigate violence in Ducheeratan village earlier this year compiled the report.
It called for the government to better equip police, increase their number, and teach them riot control techniques.
Some security assessments have said the Rohingya Solidarity Organisation – a terrorist organistion – has increased incursions into Myanmar from Bangladesh, entering primarily through Maungdaw Township.
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