Police Officer Threatened Locals with Axe and Knife

Thantlang Town, Chin State

22 June 2011: A Burmese police officer walked on the main street brandishing his knife and axe, and made threats against the locals in Thantlang Town, Chin State yesterday.

The policeman, known as Aa Kyi, was said to have shouted using extremely offensive language against the Chin locals as he waved his tools stabbing and hitting the chair on the platform in the morning.


A local witness said the policeman was accusing a local shopkeeper, Pu Al Cung, of not quickly removing a motorcycle parked in front of his shop while a group of Burma Army soldiers were arriving in the town yesterday.

"We believed that he [police officer] felt that his performance in making sure that the road was clear for the soldiers on arrival was not good enough due to the locals."

He also confronted and threatened Pu Chan Ham, Head of the Municipal Department, with his knife, according to the witnesses.

There has also been rumour that the policeman was acting intentionally to create a reason to be dismissed from his current post.

Yesterday, about 100 newly trained Burma Army soldiers arrived in Thantlang Town, about 20 miles away from the capital of Chin State, Hakha.

The local community in cooperation with YMCA and MPs are said to have held a meeting with aims of taking necessary actions against the police officer following the incident.

Source:http://chinlandguardian.com/news-2009/1372-police-officer-threatened-locals-with-axe-and-knife.html