Junta forces kill 4 labourers, arrest 6 in Oke Shit Pin

 Thinzar Nwe, Narinjara News, 21 August 2024

The junta forces opened fire on a group of manual labourers in Oke Shit Pin township of  Pyay district and killed four individuals. Six of the labourers, who hail from Taungup township working, also sustained injuries.

The victims have been identified as Ko Tun Lin Aung (36), Ko Lin Lin (25), Ko Nge Chey (26)  and Ko Thet Paing (32), who hailed  from Tar Ye village under Thin Chi Kaing village-tract of Taungup locality.

The arrested individuals hail from Myoe Haung village under the same township.

An escaped labourer informed Narinjara News that the incident took place on 13 August as they  encountered a junta column while transporting goods from Yaung Gyi village under  Oke Shit Pin township to Taungup locality.

"Since the junta forces had closed the roads, we carried  food items from Oke Shit Pin to Taungup to earn some money. It takes over 10 days to walk from Taungup to that village. The goods were  stored at  Yaung Gyi village. On that day, after loading the goods, 10 people were made into a group and  4 people used to lead the team. Those 4 persons encountered about 50 soldiers from Daw Tan village and faced the bullets. The followers were arrested," added the labourer.

The arrested men were forced to carry the dead bodies and later taken to the battalion based in Oke Shit Pin.

"We saw they were beaten and later taken away. We were hiding and watched them from a distant location,” said an eyewitness from Myoe Haung village.

A family member of another survivor expressed grief over the incident as they were working hard to transport goods facing difficult terrains for their livelihood.

Taungup-Pyay road, the main route for transporting goods to Taungup, has been blocked at a checkpoint in Oke Shit Pin. Often the businessmen and civilians  are compelled to bring goods through the Arakan mountains for  Taungup residents.

In the junta column, there were militiamen armed with carbine guns and the junta soldiers were equipped with MA-1 rifles.