Maungdaw: Retired police official U Mrat Tun was arrested by Burmese military intelligence last week while he was on his way to Buthidaung from the border town on Maungdaw, due to suspicion that he had links to an exiled media group in Bangladesh, said his friend.

"He was arrested last week at a military gate located on the Buthidaung and Maungdaw motor road when he was returning back to Buthidaung from Maungdaw after completing business there," he said.

U Mrat Tun, aged 60, is from Tha Win Chaung Village in Pauktaw Township 20 miles east of Sittwe, and is a businessman working in the western border area.

"He was transferred to the police department in Maungdaw yesterday after five days of interrogation by military intelligence officials. I heard he will be charged under immigration law by police as he went to Bangladesh illegally," he said.

U Mrat Tun is being detained in the police lockup at the Maungdaw Myoma police station and he has had no chance to visit with family members that had come out to see him.

Recently Burmese military intelligence agents have been arresting people in Arakan State on accusations that they have connections and involvement with exiled media groups in Bangladesh.

Among those who have been arrested is Ko San Lwin, from Taungup in southern Arakan, who was sentenced to five years in prison. Ko Tha Tun from Buthidaung in northern Arakan was also sentenced to five years in prison on charges of being involved in exiled media activities.

According to a local source, the military authority is likely determined to crackdown on media activities in Arakan State because many stories of human rights violations and forced labor are being published by exiled media organizations.

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